IN the world of stamp collecting very few collectors concentrate on the postage stamps of Myanmar. Most probably they know little about the country itself.

Myanmar started using postage stamps in 1852 at the same time as India, but it was not widespread; only the Arakan (now Rakhine) and Tenasserim (now Taninthayi) coastal region, which had become the possessions of the British East India Company, used stamps. At the time the British in India administered the newly acquired regions of Myanmar as a part of British India or more precisely a division of Bengal. Queen Victoria was on the throne and thus the face on the Indian stamps was hers. Most of the letters mailed were officials letters and because of this the stamps have ‘OnH.M.S.’ (on Her Majesty’s service) printed on them.

The stamps used the Indian monetary system of rupees (Rs), annas (As) and pies (Ps).

After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, King Edward VII was crowned. Postage stamps bearing his portrait were issued in India and used in British Burma.

When Edward VII died in 1910, King George V was crowned and, again, a new set of stamps was issued with the new King’s face.

In 1935 he celebrated 25 years of reign and stamps commemorating the Silver Jubilee were issued. The Myanmar stamps displayed the pagoda of Mandalay on the 8As stamp.

About the same time there was a constitutional change and Myanmar was separated from British India to become a separate country. The postage stamps with the head of George V on them were then stamped with the word ‘Burma’ over the top until new stamps were issued with ‘Burma’ printed on them.

George V died in 1936 and the new monarch, George VI, then replaced his portrait on the stamps of Myanmar.

In 1942, when the Japanese occupied Myanmar during World War II, they used their own stamps.

When the British re-occupied Myanmar in 1945 the George VI stamp was printed over with ‘Military Administration’.

In 1946 to 1947, as Gen Aung San began the process that would lead his nation to independence, the same George VI stamps were over-printed with ‘interim government’ in the Myanmar language.

After independence was achieved, George VI’s portrait was replaced with one of Gen Aung San.

He was assassinated on July 19, 1947 and a year later, in commemoration, stamps were issued by the Independent State of Burma that showed the Union flag at half-mast.

From then on, postage stamps in Myanmar became more graphically interesting; elephants at work on teak logging, a farmer ploughing paddy with a pair of oxen, a girl using a spinning wheel, the Mingun bell and other depictions of Myanmar life.

The currency shown on the stamps also changed in 1952, taking up the Independent Union’s monetary system of kyats (K) and Pyas (P).

During the years following independence a League of all political parties formed by Gen Aung San governed Myanmar. After the assassination of Gen Aung San, the head of the League, U Nu, became Prime Minister. He was a devout Buddhist and was instrumental in convening the sixth Budhist Council 2500th year of the Buddhist Era in Yangon in 1956. A postage stamp was issued to commemorate the event.

The ruling League started to split in 1958 and U Nu’s political faction formed the ruling government. Then, in 1962, the Revolutionary Council was established and issued stamps bearing the name of the RC/Union of Burma.

In 1973 a nationwide referendum was held to decide on a new constitution for the country. To mark the occasion a series of stamps was issued.

In 1974 the new constitution was put into place to form the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.

From 1974 onwards a number of definitive, commemorative and topical stamps were issued. The most fascinating was the ‘Birds of Burma’ series.

The State Law and Order Restoration Council renamed the country to Union of Burma in 1988 and then again to Union of Myanmar in 1989, the postage stamps reflected all of these changes.

In 1990/91 a 496 carat ruby of high quality was unearthed. To mark the 1991 Gem Emporium a stamp showing the ruby was produced.

Lt Col (ret) P.E. Cho’s article was originally published in Global Stamp News. The postage stamps shown here are part of Lt Col (ret) P.E. Cho’s collection started by his father in the late 1800’s.