stampEd

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The Stamps of Antarctica – Hal Vogel (Full Article)

*Published Winter 2025

Antarctica was the last of the seven continents to be discovered. When Englishman Edward Bransfield confirmed in early 1820 the existence of previously unknown islands below South America in latitudes south of 60 degrees, he thought they might be part of the theorized, but never sighted, continent. However, he was not sure.

Nobody was – until 20 years later, when a squadron of United States exploratory ships under U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes sailed along what was presumed to be this landmass’ coast. In January 1840, Wilkes traveled for 1,500 miles, yet still could see more shoreline in the distance. That verified the existence of a continent at the very bottom of the world. Wilkes called it “Antarctica” (Figure 1).

Figure 1. In 1988, the United States issued a block of stamps honoring its Antarctic explorers, including Charles Wilkes. Many countries have issued “polar” (Arctic and Antarctic) subject stamps, and there are also other polar entities that have issued stamps (e.g., Greenland). However, this article only is about those polar entities IN Antarctica that have issued their own stamps.

There were never permanent human inhabitants of Antarctica, and there still are no full-time human residents. The only people in Antarctica now are researchers, explorers, occasional adventurers, tourists, and those who support them. Some “winter” (i.e., stay March-August). Most only “summer,” arriving between September and February to do their work. They leave before wintry ice prevents them from leaving until the next brief summer thaw. Over twenty countries regularly rotate researchers through their permanent and temporary bases on the continent, and a few others also come privately.

Despite this temporary way of living, four geopolitical entities issue postage stamps for any temporary visitors to their “claimed” parts of Antarctica, which can be used at post offices serving those entities.

A handful of nations have lodged claims (some overlapping) for what they considered to be “their” sections of Antarctica (Figure 2). An aspect of the claim-staking process involved establishment of postal facilities. These legitimate post offices can be found both at the Antarctic bases of claimants and at the facilities of nations which have never expressed any Antarctic territorial claims (e.g., the United States).

Figure 2. Map of Antarctica (with an inset amplifying the Peninsular area) showing various national territorial claims (now suspended). Only four of the claimants issue stamps for their claimed Antarctic territories. New Zealand’s Ross Dependency (not named as such on the map) wedge is shown at 6 o’clock. To its right is Australia’s Australian Antarctic Territory, with France’s territorial claim slice at its eastern end. Great Britain’s British Antarctic Territory wedge is shown between 9 and 11 o’clock. It is contested by Chile and Argentina, whose claimant areas overlap with those of Great Britain. The various names printed in their claim areas refer either to terrain features or permanently established research stations. Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries.

Today, the 1961 Antarctic Treaty suspends nations’ claims to the continent (and its nearby islands) for an indefinite period in the interests of scientific research. However, four of the countries with dormant territorial claims, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, and France, continue to issue valid territory-specific stamps through their Antarctic entities, the Ross Dependency, Australian Antarctic Territory, British Antarctic Territory (and separately, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands) and French Southern and Antarctic Territories, respectively. In some cases, these regularly issued stamps are acceptable only for mail passing through the nation’s Antarctic territorial post offices. In the case of Australia, their “Antarctic” postage also is valid wherever Australian postage is permitted.

Many of the emissions from these territories arrive as annual sets, though not always. Their images largely show Antarctic subjects, events, or personages. There are occasional exceptions to these subjects for important events in the stamp-issuing nation’s history.

Antarctic entity stamps are interesting, attractive, current, affordable, and easily accessible. Antarctic stamp collections are readily capable of completion by the average philatelist.

Deep Dive

The American Society of Polar Philatelists (ASPP) is an APS affiliate that specializes in the study, collection and display of polar (Arctic and Antarctic) stamps and covers. To join, contact P.O. Box 39, Exton, PA 19341-0039, or email the society’s secretary.

The Antarctic Postage Issuing Entities

Ross Dependency

The Ross Dependency is a segment of Antarctica facing New Zealand, containing the Ross Ice Shelf. Today, this is New Zealand’s “claimed” Antarctic region, but that has not always been the case. The Ross Dependency was named and formally established in 1923, when the United Kingdom ceded governance of the region to New Zealand.

Figure 3. A New Zealand stamp overprinted “EDWARD VII / LAND” became the first Antarctic postage stamp. It was issued and used by the 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition under Ernest Shackleton. The so-called “Nimrod Expedition” actually was unable to land at its designated site in Antarctica (King Edward VII Land) and had to establish its base further west at McMurdo Sound. This block is socked-on-the-nose (27 February 1908) by the 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition post office’s circular datestamp.
Figure 4. New Zealand overprinted “VICTORIA / LAND” on one of its then current 1d stamps for use at the post office of the 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott. This block shows an unusually shifted version of the overprint on Antarctica’s second official postage stamp.
Figure 5. Need for a 1/2d value to pay the fractional international rate from the 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition post office prompted overprinting (as per the 1d) a half pence New Zealand stamp in 1911. It was delivered to the expedition in 1912, becoming the third Antarctic stamp.

In 1908, however, a stamp for the region had been issued bearing a different name: King Edward VII Land (Figure 3). It was followed a few years later by two additional issues reading Victoria Land (Figures 4 & 5). Because the United Kingdom based its claim on the area explored by Sir James Clark Ross in 1841 (including both Victoria Land and King Edward VII Land, which are part of the Ross Dependency today) these stamps are considered the first three Ross Dependency issues. All three stamps were issued by New Zealand (then a colony of Great Britain) as overprints on existing stamps, with the first for the use of the Shackleton expedition of 1907-09 and the second two for Sir Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13.

The postal and governmental anomaly of the territory would become more clearly defined in 1957, when New Zealand issued the region’s first four official stamps, which read simply “Ross Dependency” (Figure 6).

Figure 6. The first set of four stamps issued in 1957 by New Zealand’s Ross Dependency display an eclectic range of subjects.
Figure 7. The last stamps issued by the Ross Dependency before closing its Scott Base (Ross Dependency) Post Office in Antarctica was its 1982 “Life in the Antarctic” series.
Figure 8. Ross Dependency issues resumed in 1994 with the ten-subject “Animals of Antarctica” set.

New stamps were issued periodically until the Ross Dependency’s post office at New Zealand’s Scott Base closed in 1987 (Figure 7). Occasional issues resumed in 1994 after significant worldwide demand (Figure 8). Mail from the Ross Dependency is processed by the Ross Dependency Agency, operated from a Christchurch post office in New Zealand.

British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands are two separate Antarctic stamp-issuing entities that sprang from several former British stamp-issuing Antarctic systems. This continental chunk and group of offshore islands (i.e., South Georgia island and the archipelagos of South Shetlands, South Orkneys, and South Sandwich Islands) are on the side of Antarctica nearest to South America.

The evolution of this geopolitical structure (and its specific stamp issuing authorities) has a complex history, due to Great Britain’s various attempts to strengthen their sovereignty claims and better manage the territories.

The region’s first stamps were issued during World War II as part of Operation Tabarin, a secret British expedition that aimed to strengthen British claims to the Falkland Islands Dependencies. These issues were overprinted Falkland Islands stamps for “Graham Land” (located in the upper Antarctic Peninsula), South Shetlands (Figure 9), South Orkneys, and South Georgia. Several British bases were established in 1944-45 along the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (Figure 10) and in the South Shetlands on Deception Island. At that time, no bases were established on the South Orkneys or South Georgia.

Figure 9. This 1944 first issue set of the South Shetlands was an overprint reading “SOUTH SHETLANDS / DEPENDENCY OF”. Other portions of the Falkland Islands Dependencies (South Orkneys, Graham Land, South Georgia) were similarly overprinted on this set of Falkland Islands stamps.
Figure 10. Overprint for “Graham Land” is shown on the 6d value of the Falkland Islands set used for overprinting the first Falkland Island Dependencies stamps. “Graham Land” is what Great Britain called is claim of the Antarctic Peninsula on the continent’s mainland.

This Antarctic grouping was civilianized in 1946 as the Falkland Islands Dependencies and received its own postage stamps (Figure 11). In 1962, the BAT (encompassing the Antarctic Peninsula, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, and Graham Land) was spun off as its own entity and received its own postage in 1963 (Figure 12), leaving South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands as the only territories remaining in the Falkland Islands Dependencies.

Figure 11. The first (non-overprinted) issue of the Falkland Islands Dependencies is referred to as the “map issue” or “map stamps.” They were the “Dependencies’” own stamps (i.e., no overprinting of Falkland Islands stamps). Unlike the first Dependencies issues, however, they did not distinguish between the entities that were using them. Post Offices on South Georgia, Graham Land, South Shetlands, etc. used the same stamps that were generically worded “Falkland Islands Dependencies.” Only the post office cancellations striking the stamps bore the individual names of the entities where they were being used (e.g., Graham Land).
Figure 12. The first set issued in 1963 for the new British Antarctic Territory also did not distinguish between its geographical parts. Post Offices in Graham Land, South Shetlands, and South Orkneys all used stamps with the name “British Antarctic Territory.”

However, from 1963 until 1979, South Georgia used stamps that read only “South Georgia” (Figure 13), before switching to Falkland Island Dependencies adhesives that also covered the South Sandwich Islands (Figure 14). In 1986, both South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands began using stamps that read “South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands,” a style which is still used today (Figure 15).

Figure 13. The 1d stamp in the 16-stamp set of the 1963 first South Georgia issue showed the South Sandwich Islands.

Figure 14. The renewed Falkland Islands Dependencies resumed issuing stamps with an extended set in 1980.

Figure 15. The first set of South Georgia and South Sandwich Island stamps, issued in 1986, bore images of the British queen and the royal family.

Australian Antarctic Territory

The Australian Antarctic Territory consists of a large portion of East Antarctica, south and west of Australia and adjacent to Ross Dependency. Included in the region is the group of volcanic islands known as Heard Island and Macquarie Island.

Australia’s Antarctic postal activities precede the issuance of its territory’s first postage stamp, issued in 1957 (Figure 16). Additional issues followed periodically, which are good for postage at post offices on both the Antarctic continent and Antarctic islands (Figure 17), as well as anywhere Australian postage is accepted (Figure 18).

Figure 16. The Australian Antarctic Territory’s first issue in 1957 depicts the raising of the Australian flag during an exploratory landing on March 3, 1954 at Vestfold Hills. Davis Research Base would be established there in early 1957. Though showing an historic event, it is not considered by Australia to be a commemorative issue.

Australian Antarctic Territory stamp issuances had a faux pas in 1974 (Figure 19). A 15¢ value of the extended historic ships series labeled “S.Y. Nimrod” (the ship used by Ernest Shackleton during his 1907-09 expedition to Antarctica) actually showed SS Morning (another historic Antarctic exploration ship).

Figure 17. Some consider this stamp issued November 17, 1954 in Australia to be the Australian Antarctic Territory’s first stamp. However, though commemorating the 1947 establishment of the organization that manages Australia’s Antarctic activities, the stamp was not inscribed with the name of its Antarctic territory. Technically, it is an issue of Australia, rather than the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Figure 18. The first commemorative stamp for the Australian Antarctic Territory was not issued until its seventh emission. The 1961 stamp featuring Douglas Mawson marks the 50th anniversary of the 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition. Sir Douglas was its leader.
Figure 19. The mistakenly labeled “S.Y. Nimrod” stamp from the extended ships series of 1974 showed the wrong ship. Shown canceled at an Australian Antarctic Territory post office, it actually pictured the S.S. Morning, another historic Antarctic expedition vessel.

Deep Dive

The American Society of Polar Philatelists (ASPP) is an APS affiliate that specializes in the study, collection and display of polar (Arctic and Antarctic) stamps and covers. To join, contact P.O. Box 39, Exton, PA 19341-0039, or email alanwar@comcast.net.

French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises)

This Antarctic claim includes a continental wedge (within Australian Antarctic Territory) called Adélie Land and four sets of south Indian Ocean islands (Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands, and Scattered Islands). French Antarctic activity began in the 19th century, however, France did not issue its first Antarctic territories stamp until 1948. That first stamp was an overprint (“TERRE ADELIE / DUMONT D’URVILLE / 1840”) on a Madagascar airmail stamp (Figure 20).

Figure 20. A used copy of the first French Southern and Antarctic Lands stamp, which was overprinted on a Madagascar airmail stamp. It was the only French Southern and Antarctic Lands stamp from 1946 to 1954.

France began issuing dedicated stamps for its southern territories when the administration of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands was established in 1955. The first stamp to bear the territory’s name (“TERRES AUSTRALES ET ANTARCTIQUES FRANÇAISES”), however, was, again, an overprinted Madagascar stamp (Figure 21). Since the 1950s, there have been mostly annual set emissions (Figure 22).

The Scattered Islands, four uninhabited islands surrounding Madagascar, were added to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in 2007. As such, their postal system makes use of these French stamps (Figure 23).

Figure 21. The first stamp issued by French Southern and Antarctic Lands after the entity was officially established in 1955 was another overprint of a different Madagascar stamp.
Figure 22. In 1956, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands issued a set showing penguins and seals that was its first of many stamps that exclusively bore only the name of the territory.
Figure 23. The 20F Albatross issue in a 1966-69 set is the most expensive stamp of French Southern and Antarctic Territories. It is an exception among several hundred issues that are far more financially accessible.

Our Advice

Want to order new stamps issued from Antarctic stamp-issuing entities? Below, we’ve shared the best options for finding new issues.

Ross Dependency:

Collectables.NZPOST.co.NZ

French Southern and Lands (mail only):

Terres australes et antarctiques françaises

BP400

97458 Saint-Pierre Cedex

Reunion, France

British Antarctic Territory/Falkland Islands/South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands:

www.Falklandstamps.com

Australian Antarctic Territory:

https://auspost.com.au/shop/collectables