Postage stamps and postal history of Greece

Greece's first postal service was founded in 1828, at the time of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. This initial service continued mail delivery and, later, the issuing of postage stamps until 1970. It was then succeeded by the Hellenic Post S.A. (abbreviated ΕΛΤΑ), which remains Greece's official postal provider. The first Greek stamps (known as "Large Hermes heads") were issued in 1861; by then, the postal service had expanded to operate 97 branches.^[1]

Until 1966, with the exception of a set issued in 1927, all Greek stamps were simply inscribed ΕΛΛΑΣ (Hellas, the country's Greek name). From 1966 to 1982, the inscription was modified to include both the Greek and Latin versions: ΕΛΛΑΣ-HELLAS. Beginning in 1982, ΕΛΛΑΣ was replaced with ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ (Hellenic Republic); this inscription is still being used on Greek stamps. It was also used on the 1927 set referred to earlier.

In 1875, Greece was among the founding members of the General Postal Union (renamed the Universal Postal Union in 1878).^[2]

Greece's territory and population was greatly expanded by the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars; it acquired some additional territory during World War I. This led to the issuing of several sets of occupation stamps, which consisted of both existing stamp issues with overprints and newly printed issues. In addition to these, some of the so-called "New Territories", notably the islands of Ikaria and Samos, issued their own stamps prior to becoming part of Greece.

Beginning with the Olympic issue of 1896, Greece has issued a number of commemorative stamps. Their subjects have included Greek history, art, mythology and wildlife.