Indochina Postage Stamp, Allegory of Commerce and Navigation (Sage Type)

Indochina · 1889 · 5c

This stamp features the 'Sage' type design, an allegory of Commerce and Navigation, originally created for French colonies. The design shows two figures representing Peace and Commerce, holding hands over a globe, symbolizing trade across the world. This specific issue is overprinted 'INDO-CHINE' for use in French Indochina.

Issued in 1889, this was the first postage stamp specifically for French Indochina, which had been formally established two years prior. It marks the beginning of a unified postal system for the French colonial territories of Cochinchina, Cambodia, Annam, and Tonkin.