page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Vanuatu
section_title: British issues
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Vanuatu / British issues
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1920 stamp.
context_page_description: This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, an island group in the South Pacific. Between 1906 and 1980, the islands were an Anglo-French Condominium.
  One of the outcomes of this arrangement was that both countries issued their own postage stamps for the islands, although towards the end of the Condominium, there were joint issues with the initials EIIR for the UK, and RF for France.
context_section_description: The first British issues, in 1908 and 1910, were produced by overprinting stamps of Fiji with "NEW HEBRIDES / CONDOMINIUM".  These were followed by a joint issue with the French authorities, inscribed "NEW HEBRIDES" over a design including the coats of arms of both France and Britain and denominated in British currency.  These were in use for several years, but as the stocks ran out in 1920, the less-popular values had to be surcharged "1d." and "2d.".  New stamps in different colours came in the following year, but further surcharges became necessary again, in 1924.
  1925 saw another joint issue of nine values similar to the 1911 stamps, but this time both pence and centime denominations appeared on the same stamp.  The British version had the pence (or shilling) denomination on the right side, and was printed on the "multiple crown and script CA" watermark paper, while the French version had the centimes on the left, was inscribed "NOUVELLES HEBRIDES", and printed on paper watermarked "R F"; otherwise they appeared identical.
  The dual denomination scheme broke down when the value of the French franc declined, and for the next stamp issue, in 1938, the two administrations had simplified matters by using the same currency of "gold francs".  The twelve values of the 1938 issues all depicted the same "beach scene", including huts, palm trees, a canoe, and a volcano in the distance.  The stamps were inscribed "NEW HEBRIDES" at the top and "CONDOMINIUM" at the bottom.  A standard Commonwealth 75th anniversary of the UPU issue followed in 1949, and a definitive issue in 1953.  1956 saw a set of four values commemorating the 50th anniversary of the condominium, and another set of definitives in 1957.  Subsequent issues were mostly the common issues of the Commonwealth, with New Hebrides-specific issues appearing from 1967 onwards.
caption: A 1920 stamp of the New Hebrides surcharged "2d" by the British authorities on French version of the joint issues.
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