When I started collecting stamps, there were many countries that don’t exist now in the names then. Some have merged into other countries, some disintegrated and some assumed new names keeping in view the aspiration of their people. One such country was Upper Volta.
The history of postage stamps of Upper Volta dates back to 1890s, when the French colonized some of the African countries. Prior to the creation od the French Upper Volta in 1919, the postal service in the area was administered by Senegambia and Niger and the then Upper Senegal and Niger. The first stamps of the Upper Volta were those of the Upper Senegal and Niger with the overprint “Haute Volte” in 1920s. The dedicated stamp of Upper Volta surfaced in 1928.
Upper Volta continued to be under French influence till 1960. In 1958 the Republic of Upper Volta emerged and issued its first stamp in 1959 when it celebrated its first anniversary. However, the republic became an independent state on 5th August 1960. The country had history of turmoil and military coups. On August4, 1984, some 24 years after its independence, the republic changed its name to Burkina Faso (meaning “the country of honourable people”).
I have three stamps of Upper Volta as shown above. May be someday I also get a stamp of Burkina Faso.
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