Iranian Stamps

A review of 150 years of stamp design in Iran

By Amir-Hossein Noori

 

 

In 1837 the British Sir Rowland Hill conducted many studies on the method of receiving postal fees and finally in 1840 the first postal stamp known as Penny Black was printed in England.

Before publication of stamps in Iran and receipt of postal charges by posting stamps on envelopes, individuals, businessmen and religious missionaries residing in Iran mailed their letters abroad via the cities of Tabriz and Orumieh in northwestern Iran and Bushehr in the south. Most of these envelopes were stamped in the destinations.

The first post office in Iran in the south was opened by the British army in December of 1856. The oldest envelope mailed out of this office is recorded on February 26, 1857. The destinations of the majority of mails were India and England. Following the travels of Nasserddin Shah to Europe and the changes emerging in the country’s administrative sector, in 1856 an envoy was dispatched to France for obtaining the first designs and prints of stamps. In the beginning a painter by the name of Riester with knowledge on the goal of the Iranian envoy designed and printed a series of stamps but they were rejected as he had not obtained permission to follow suit. Later another designer by the name of Albert Barre using the official Iranian seal, the lion and the sun initiated the design of the first series of stamps.

Gradually, along with the then current stamps, post cards, envelopes and newspaper wrappings bearing printed stamps were welcomed by the public. These items were mostly printed in the Netherlands in Enschede Zonen print house. During the rule of Nasserddin Shah special labels were also made for use on the back of royal mail envelopes. The first official post card with the picture of Nasserddin Shah was printed by the Iranian post office in 1879 in Wien’s government print house and in 1903 the first series of pictured post cards with various pictures were printed.

In the Qajar era in addition to the stamps that the central government printed and published, individuals and groups loyal to or opposing the government such as Victor Costin in Mashad and Sattar Khan in Tabriz attempted to privately print and publish stamps.

In 1925 the parliament print house with the goal of printing a variety of security bonds was inaugurated by Reza Shah Pahlavi. Since that date until the present stamps are designed and printed in Iran. The first stamp designer in Iran was Mehdi Taeb. Succeeding him, the naturalist painter the late Chehrehnegar designed stamps in Iran from 1944 until 1958.

In 1958 the parliament’s proprietorship of the printing house was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and by a request of the Ministry of Post and Telegraph from the Ministry of Art and Culture, Mohammad Mehravan an instructor of painting in Kamal al-Molk school started working as a stamps designer.

During the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi the stamps published often bore pictures of the Shah or themes of the then industrial and developmental activities. The conversion of Iranian currency from Shahi to Dinar and from Gheran to Rial in March of 1932 and the change in writing the name Iran from Perse in 1935 are among the transitions evident on the stamps of that period.

During the time of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi stamps were published with more versatile subjects than before. Among them were the White Revolution of 1965 and national and cultural themes such as Norooz and the Shiraz Art and Culture Festival.

In the early years after the victory of Islamic Revolution the stamps and envelopes that remained from the Pahlavi period were stamped with sentences such as “the Islamic Revolution of Iran” and the Shah’s face was overprinted with striped or multi lateral seals. Finally, the first stamp of the Islamic Republic of Iran was designed by Mohammad Mehravan and published in March of 1979.

Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran many stamps and post cards have been printed and published on various cultural, historical and religious occasions and some of them have been designed and published with a revolutionary and religious approach.

 

 

  

 

 

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1- Rister sample, 22x19 mm / 1885

2-Rister sample, 29x24 mm / 1885
Rister sample, 24.5x32 mm / 1885
Alber Barre, 24.5x20.5 mm / 1885

Antigovernment airmail atamp, 33.5x23.5 mm
         
Government Stamp, 27x24 mm / 1978   Lithography series, 33x27 mm / 1881   Budapest series, 28.5x24 mm / 1880   Ahmad Shah series with overprint, 31x24 mm  / 1911 Ahmad Shah series with overprint, 31x24 mm  / 1911   Mashad series, 33x27 mm / 1901  
         
Airmail series, 31x24 mm / 1926   Kings series, 33x26.5 mm / 1914   Kings series, 33x26.5 mm / 1914   Lion and the Sun, symbol of the Constitution Movement with price change overprint, 31x34 mm / 1913 Ahmad Shah Coronation series, 37.5x29.5 mm / 1915   Ahmad Shah Coronation series, 37.5x29.5 mm / 1915  
         
Mirza koucheck khan Jangali, 36.5x30.5 mm / 1920   Tax stamp with airmail   Tax stamp with airmail overprint, 33.5X23.5mm, 1928  

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium, 35.5X26.5mm, 1949

   Alborz Oil-well No.3 in Qom, 42.5X27.5mm, 1953   The 4th International Forest Protection Congress in India, 40.5X28.5mm, 1954,  
           

Post and government against Iran, 34X28mm, 1914

 Iranian folkloric dress, 40X28mm, 1955 Iranian fold dress, 40X28mm, 1955  
           

 Iranian folkloric dress, 40X28mm, 1955

 Shiraz art festival, 40.5X30mm, 1969

Fortieth anniversary of establishment of the international labor organization, 30X41mm, 1959

Extirpation of malaria, 37X30mm, 1960

Extirpation of malaria, 45X30mm, 1960

Extirpation of malaria, 36.5X31mm, 1960

  
Tourist attraction organization, 31X37mm, 1964

Refugees year, 45X33mm, 1960

In honorary of the 700th birth anniversary of Khajeh Nasireddin Tousi, 33X45mm,1956

Arboriculture festival, 40X30mm, 1966

Shiraz art festival, 35X45mm, 1968

The fifth Shiraz art festival, 40X30mm, 1971

  
 
Establishment of the Iranian women’s organization, 46X28mm, 1966 Iranian architecture congress, 41.5X31mm, 1970

The festival of the 2500th year of imperial establishment of Iran, 37X56mm, 1971

The first Tehran international film festival, 50X35mm, 1972

 The first Tehran international film festival, 50X34mm, 1972

The seventh Asian games, 45X33mm, 1974

  
 

Tenth anniversary of Iranian White Revolution, Culture and art festival, 55X29mm, 1972

Culture and art festival, 56X29mm, 1974

 The tenth regional development cooperation, 45X33mm, 1974 Shiraz art festival, 45X30mm, 1975 The forth Tehran international film festival, 45.5X29mm, 1975

Islamic culture and civilization, 41X31.5mm, 1981

  
 
Children’s week, 40.5X30mm, 1975

Teacher’s honorary day, 41X27mm, 1977

Islamic republic of Iran, 32X25mm, 1979

Martyrdom Anniversary of Beheshti, 41.5X24mm, 1982

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium, 35.5X26.5mm, 1954

Norouz 1374 (new year), 41X31.5mm, 1994

  
 

Teacher’s honorary day, 41X27.5mm, 1986

Ferdosi’s honorary congress, 76X60mm, 1990

Ferdosi’s honorary congress, 76X60mm, 1990

Ferdosi’s honorary congress, 76X60mm, 1990

The seventh gathering of Group 77 ministers, 46X34mm, 1991

The first international poster biennial of the Islamic world, 47X33.5mm, 2004

  
               

Norouz 1374 (new year), 41X31.5mm, 1994

Support for children with cancer, 46X34mm, 1998

 Press festival, 46X34mm, 1995

The third Islamic women’s games, 46.5X34.5mm, 2001

Children and youth international

film festival, 34X46mm, 1993

Nineteenth series with Islamic

revolution overprint, 31X41.5mm, 1979

Nineteenth series with Islamic

revolution overprint, 31X41.5mm, 1979

  
   

Tous epical festival, 29X39mm, 1975

  

The appearance of Persian script,

 33X43mm, 1973

   The festival of the 2500th year of imperial establishment of Iran, 37X55mm, 1971  
     

2500th year of imperial establishment of Iran, 46X33mm, 1970
     

2500th year of imperial establishment

of Iran, 46X33mm, 1970

 

The first International children’s

film festival, 30X45.5mm, 1966

 

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium

, 26.5X36mm, 1949

  

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium

, 27X36mm, 1949

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium

, 26.5X36mm, 1947

In memory of Ibne Sina millennium

, 26.5X36mm, 1949

  
   

Ten years of developments,

27X41mm, 1934

International exhibition of children’s book

illustrations, 46X34mm, 1999

One thousand one hundred birth

anniversary of Farabi, 55X30mm, 1974

  

Ten years of developments

, 32X45mm, 1934
 

World’s childrens day, 47X34mm, 1999

  
   

The last eclipse of 20th century, 47X34mm, 1999