This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in Southern Africa. It became the Republi ...

First stamps

The first

postage stamp 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 ...

s were produced in 1888 by

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

ing stamps of British Bechuanaland (some overprints of British stamps and some issued specifically for the colony) with "Protectorate". In 1889 a -penny stamp of Cape of Good Hope was overprinted "Bechuanaland / Protectorate.". From 1897 to 1925 more British stamps were overprinted using the protectorate's name in various layouts. In 1910 a 6-pence stamp of

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

was also overprinted; although it was intended for fiscal use, postal uses are known.

George V

The first stamps inscribed Bechuanaland Protectorate appeared in 1932. The 12 values, ranging from d to 10 shillings, all used the same design; a group of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

next to a

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Trop ...

tree, surmounted by a portrait for King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. The usual Silver Jubilee issue appeared in 1935.

George VI

A Coronation issue appeared in 1937 and a definitive series in 1938 with King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

replacing his father on the 1932 series.''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970''. 112th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2010, pp. 94-99. The protectorate's Peace issue of 1945 was produced by overprinting "Bechuanaland" on

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

's Peace stamps. Stamps were issued for the

Royal visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

in 1947, and for the usual omnibus sets of the period.

Queen Elizabeth

Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

replaced her father in a definitive series of 1955, the rest of the design matching the previous definitives. Three stamps in 1960 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the protectorate, then in 1961 Bechuanaland converted to the South African

rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

, necessitating surcharges on the existing definitives in February, followed by a new definitive series in October that was mostly pictures of birds, with some showing people at work. Standard Commonwealth omnibus issues appeared up until independence, along with a 1 June 1966 issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Bechuanaland Pioneers and Gunners. From 30 September 1966 the Bechuanaland Protectorate became the

Republic of Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

and stamps from that time were marked Botswana.

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues * Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986.

External links

Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
{{PostalhistoryAfrica Bechuanaland Protectorate Philately of Botswana