National Stamp Day

National Stamp Day has been ovserved in South Africa since 1987, but this set of stamps is the first to be issued to mark this event.  The five 21c stamps feature the world's oldest postage stamp, the British Penny Black, and the first stamps issued by the former postal administrations of the Cape Colony, Natal, the Republic of the Orange Free State, and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. 

The world's frist adhesive stamp, the famous Penny Black, was introduced into England on 2 May 1840.  It was the brainchild of a former schoolmaster, Rowland Hill, who developed the system of prepaid postage.  The profile of a youthful Queen Victoria was depicted on the stamp, which was designed by William Wyon and printed byt he firm of Perkins, Bacon and Petch. 

the Cape traingular stamps were designed in that shape by the then Surveyor-General, Charles Bell, in order to distinguish them from the English stamps.  The first values, one penny and four pennies, were sold at the Castle i Cape Town on 1 September 1853.  The 4d stamp depicted the seasted figure of the legendary Hope against a blue background and the words Postage Four Pence, Cape of Good Hope.  The stamps were imperforate and had to be cut by hand.

Natal's first stamps were issued at Pietermaritzburg and Durban on 26 May 1857.  The four stamps were embossed on thick paper of different colours by Messrs. P. Davis and Sons of Pietermaritzburg.  The shilling stamp was buff-coloured and feature the Royal Crown, the letters VR (Victoria Regina) and the working Natal, One Shilling, framed by a double border.

The first stamps of the Republic of the Orange Free State were issued on 1 January 1868 in 1d, 6d and 1s values.  The shilling stamp was orange-coloured and, like the other values, featured an orange-tree and three hunting horns.  The hunting horns are the oldest emblems of the Dutch Royal House of Orange.  The tree is a symbol of freedom and originally did not represent a specific type.  When the proof stamps arrived from England, it was found that the printers, Thos. de la Rue and Co., had added ripe oranges to the tree. To obviate additional costs the design was accepted.

Following a recommendation by the Postmaster General, Frederick Jeppe, the volksraad of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek decided to introduce adhesive postage stamps in 1869.  The stamps were printed in Germany by Adolph Otto of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the first consignment reached Potchefstroom in August 1869.  The shilling stamp, which depicted the ZAR coat of arms, was printed in green.