The Sri Lanka Anti-Narcotics Association has chosen for their 2010 calendar. The theme: Celebrating the Stamps of Sri Lanka. As usual the Association continues to choose interesting informative and inspirational topics! In previous years their calendars have depicted the Dances of Sri Lanka. Philosophers, and last year. Legends of Thambapanni. The new calendar is equally inspiring. Strikingly laid Out. The calendar depicts a range of stamps issued by the Postal Department.

Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, Has a postal history dating back to 1798 - two years after Britain occupied the island’s coastal regions - when post offices were established in the towns of Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Mannar, and Trincomalee. In fact, the first mail coach service in Asia was inaugurated in Ceylon in 1836, linking Colombo and Kandy.

Then, the revenue was paid by the recipient of the letter. But in 1840 that changed with the issue of the ‘Penny Black’, the very first stamp issued by the British Post Office. It was the world’s first ever postage stamp. The words "Britain" did not appear on the stamp, and British stamps still do not carry the name of the country, but only the profile of the ruling monarch.

Stamps were officially introduced to Sri Lanka in 1857. Depicting the profile of Queen Victoria, with a face-value of six pence. According to Stanley Gibbon’s (London) catalogue the stamp a purple-brown imperforate is valued at approximate L7500 (Unused) and L450 (used).

From 1892, stamps were valued in Ceylon Rupees and Cents and the colorful miniatures captured images of history and geography of our Island.

With E-mail making an entry into the communication field, Stamps are less used and even known as snail mail. But. E-mail can never ever take away the capacity of stamps to portray the nation. Stamps have the potential to build nations promote a country’s culture, record history and provide visual representation of resources and landscapes No wonder stamps are referred to as ‘paper ambassadors’ as they travel to every nook and corner of the world.

The stamps selected for this calendar are only a colorful representation of the beautiful stamps that Sri Lanka can boast of, visually depicting and expressing the beauty Of this wonderful island. The collection reminds us of our younger days and gives today’s children a chance to look at the past and understand the history and beauty of Sri Lanka.