Yugoslavia 1918 First Issue, Chainbreaker

Yugoslavia · 1918 · 3h

This stamp, known as the 'Chainbreaker' or 'Verigar', is the first postage stamp issued for the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which would soon become Yugoslavia. The design features an allegorical figure of a slave breaking his chains, with the sun rising behind him, symbolizing liberation and the dawn of a new nation. The stamp was designed by the Slovene painter Ivan Vavpotič.

Issued in 1918 following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, this stamp marks the formation of a new South Slavic state. It represents the unification and independence of peoples who had been under foreign rule.