Ethiopia, First Postage Stamps

Ethiopia · 1894 · 1/4 g

This is the first postage stamp issued by Ethiopia, then known as Abyssinia. The design features a portrait of Emperor Menelik II in a central oval, flanked by two roaring Lions of Judah, a traditional symbol of Ethiopian royalty. The inscriptions are in Amharic script.

Issued under Emperor Menelik II, these stamps marked Ethiopia's entry into the Universal Postal Union and asserted its sovereignty and modernity on the international stage during a period of European colonial expansion in Africa.