Stamps With No Country Name - All UK Stamps?

Is it safe to assume that any stamp that does not have a country name on it, is UK? The stamp in question currently is below. Thanks!

Lombardy-Veneto under Austrian rule - hence the image of Franz-Joseph.

Before the Universal Postal Union was founded in1874, there was no such requirement. And even after 1874, there are a few examples of stamps without the country's name.

Edit: Certain types of stamps will not have a country name as they are not intended to prepay carriage of mail and, consequently, will not be used on international mail. Postage due stamps are examples of such.

Thank you both!

Here is an example of a Dutch stamp from 1923 that does not include the country's name posted elsewhere.


https://goscf.com/t/18742

There are quite a few countries that have issued stamps without the country name. Here is one from the USA:

I should amend my original question to, a stamp with no country name or flag on it.

UK (and colonies) will have an image of the then current monarch, but no name nor necessarily a flag. No British Monarch and no country name it is not UK or a colony.

Thanks, Parcelpostguy!

While I collect GB (why don't we call them UK?)stamps rather than British Empire stamps I don't think colonial stamps after about 1860 lacked the country name. All the UK GPO postage stamps have no name on them and the 11 or so heads are fairly easy to recognise.

The first stamps (Sydney Views) from New South Wales and the second type (Queen on Throne) from Victoria did not show the name of the colony.

Well perhaps it started with Stanley GIbbons?

I think Moens already called it Grande Bretagne (Royaume de la).

My guess would be that printing 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland' just required to many letters and it became customary to abbreviate it to Great Britain. UK has a meaning now, but it is not the only example of a united kingdom in history.

On the plus side: it allowed for continuity in 1922.

My contribution, for what it's worth:
As a collector of Lebanon, I wondered whether I had stumbled across an anomaly to the generally understood policy that all* countries are required to identify their stamps by country name.
*with exception of GB.



Stamp issued on 25th November 2020 (Michel) to mark the Arab Economic & Social Development Summit held in Beirut, Lebanon.

This stamp is recorded as LB037.20 in the WADP Numbering System (WNS) suggesting that it has been submitted to the UPU as an official issue of Lebanon.

The UPU Convention Article 6 states:
"Postage stamps comprise:
3.1 the name of the member country or territory of issue, in roman letters, or, if the UPU International
Bureau is so requested by the member country or territory of issue, the abbreviation or
initials officially representing the member country or territory of issue, in accordance with
the conditions laid down in the Regulations" (a superscript 1 refers to exception for GB as referred to in an earlier post).

The name of the issuing country is not shown anywhere on the stamp, the only reference to the issuing agency being the Lebanese flag (cedar tree) shown in the scrolling ribbon of the design.

(The text in Arabic along the lower edge of the stamp expresses the date in Gregorian and Hijri (Arab Islamic) calendar, no reference to Lebanon).

This cedar tree symbol could be taken to refer to the location of the summit and not necessarily the issuing country.

To my knowledge this is the only Lebanon stamp I have come across which does not bear the name "Liban" (Lebanon in French), with/without the Arabic equivalent.

Those who collect stamps of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be aware that its stamps bear the symbol of crossed swords below a palm tree, instead of the country name.

If the cedar tree or flag bearing same is to be taken as representing Lebanon, then why not adopt this as a rule for all issues?

For example, the preceding issue, has the country name (Roman and Arabic characters):



Likewise the subsequent issues:




The only conclusion I can draw? Never assume!