This is a survey of the

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is at ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, formerly known as ''

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

''. Sri Lanka is an

island country An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

, located about 31 km off the southern coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. After over two thousand years of rule by local kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

beginning in the 16th century, before control of the entire country passed to Britain in 1815. A nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century with the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the British after peaceful negotiations in 1948. The country became a republic and adopted its current name in 1972.

British colonial stamps

The first stamps for

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

were issued on 1 April 1857. Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.239. The stamp features a portrait of Queen Victoria and is brown in colour. It is a 6 pence value used to send a half ounce letter from Ceylon to England. Eight more stamps were issued in year 1857, all featuring the portrait of Queen Victoria. One of the 5 stamps that were issued on 23 April 1859 is considered to be the most valuable stamp in Sri Lanka: it is a 4 pence with a dark pink colour known as the ' Dull Rose'. File:1857 Ceylan Yv 5.jpg, 1857 Victoria on 6 pence File:1859 Ceylan Yv10.jpg, 1859 Victoria on 1 sh 9 p - Cert. B.P.A. File:Ceylon-UK-Stamp-1888-Double-Inverted-Surcharge.jpg, 1888 Double Inverted Surcharge

Stamps of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is the only country to include details in a stamp in three languages viz. Sinhala, Tamil and English. The first stamps marked ''Sri Lanka'' were issued on 22 May 1972.

Souvenir sheets

has been issuing souvenir sheets since 1966. Many of the earliest souvenir sheets issued by Sri Lanka are valuable. Sri Lanka issues souvenir sheets each year on many different themes.

First souvenir sheet

The first

souvenir sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the Paper, sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of m ...

of Sri Lanka was issued on 5 February 1966 on the topic 'Typical Birds of Ceylon' and was

imperforate For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other. Methods of separation include: # perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes # rouletting: small horizontal and vert ...

. This sheet was reissued on 15 September 1967 to commemorate the 1st National Stamp Exhibition of Sri Lanka, overprinted 'FIRST NATIONAL STAMP EXHIBITION 1967'. Subsequently many souvenir sheets were issued, on many themes mostly

perforate A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

Other souvenir sheets

On 10 February 1981, a four stamp Surcharged souvenir sheet on 'Quadrupeds of Sri Lanka' was issued. The 4 stamps in the sheet were surcharged at the issue. A practice of issuing souvenir sheets containing the

Wesak Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival commemora ...

stamps started from year 1981. On 21 October 1981 a souvenir sheet was issued to mark the Sri Lankan visit of

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen ...

and was the first souvenir sheet issued to mark the visit of a distinguished foreign

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

. On 2 December 1982 a souvenir sheet was issued to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the 1st postage Stamp of Sri Lanka. This was the 1st souvenir sheet of 2 stamps of different denominations; 50 cents and 2.50 rupees with a sheet value of

Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

5. On 1 April 2007 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1st postage stamp of Sri Lanka a souvenir sheet was issued in both perforate and imperforate types. All the souvenir sheets issued so far were rectangular in shape. The first irregular shape souvenir sheet was issued on 22 May 2001 on 'Seashells of Sri Lanka' for the

World Biodiversity Day The International Day for Biological Diversity (or World Biodiversity Day) is a United Nations–sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. It is currently held on May 22. The International Day for Biological Divers ...

. The sheet was in the shape of a seashell.

Present-day souvenir sheets

Now, Sri Lanka issues several souvenir sheets annually. A souvenir sheet is almost always issued with Wesak and Christmas stamps. Sometimes, choosing one stamp from a set of stamps, a small miniature sheet, containing that single stamp is issued. Because they are attractive, they have become favourites among collectors.

British colonial stamps

Stamps of Sri Lanka

Souvenir sheets

First souvenir sheet

Other souvenir sheets

Present-day souvenir sheets

See also

References

Further reading