Iraq

It’s a stamp juggernaut. It has been a long followed tradition to collect stamps. Aficionados, who exchange, sell and collect these precious squares, have formed their own clan. Iraq’s capital Baghdad is not an unheard name for those who love stories from Arabian Nights. With deep rooted culture and developing parliamentary democracy, Iraqi stamps are a good amalgamation of artistic beauty and political influence. The throne of postal services in Iraq was initially handled by Assyria, which has become a great archaeological site today. India operated the postage service between 1868 and 1914; hence, an impact of Indian art and culture is clearly visible on the stamps of that period. Even during the First World War, Iraq used Indian stamps with an overprint that read, "I.E.F". These were specially used for military mails. However, synchronously, British overprinted Turkish stamps and called them "Mestopotamia".

The very first series of distinctive Iraqi stamps appeared in 1923. Aggregately, they had 12 designs in eight different sets with values determined in annas and rupees. The stamps portrayed different acknowledged sceneries and images from history. After the independence in 1932, the currency changed to fils and dinar ñ so did the assessment of the stamps. The new Iraq stamps showed political images of leaders. Some of them also envisaged artefacts or popular sculptures. With recent political upheaval and growing war tensions, the stamps also portray war scenes and military armaments.