War and Philately
were issued by several countries other than members of the British Commonwealth, British Commonwealth examples are the most common and widely known. Most War Tax stamps fo the British Commonwealth nations are overprints on regular issues. A few countries, such as Canada, created specific issues to pay this tax. It's interesting to note that there are no corresponding issues for Great Britain itself. Portugal and Spain are two other nations that issued War Tax stamps for use in their related colonies, but not within the nation itself.
Semi-Postal and Postal Tax stamps: A number of semi-postal and postal tax stamps have been issued either to directly support war activities or military programs, or to aid the victims of war. The main difference between a semi-postal stamp and a postal tax stamp is that a semi-postal stamp contains both the fee for postage and an additional sum used for whatever purpose the government decrees. A postal tax stamp is used to pay a tax on postal material in addition to postage. Semi-postal stamps are more frequently used to pay for charitable activities, while postal tax stamps may be used by government for many purposes unrelated to charitable activities. Many postal tax stamps have been issued to provide relief for war refugees.
Propaganda labels: Thousands of "patriotic" labels have been issued by virtually every nation that has ever engaged in warfare. Some of these have been used for franking, while others were of no postal validity. Frequently, many regular issues of a nation at war have also had significant propaganda value - the "Win the War" issue and "Defense" issues of the United States are a good case in point. Canada's wartime definitive issue, in which the higher values featured various portions of Canada's military services, is another good example.
Sometimes, propaganda stamps had other uses, as well. Great Britain issued a parody of the "Hitler Head" stamp featuring a skull in place of Hitler's head, and Germany issued a stamp similar to the King George VI regular issue with the Star of David prominent in the design, and other issues with King George V and VI and Stalin in the same design. These issues were designed to spread dissention and discord in the other country, although they were not particularly effective. These are just a few of many examples of such propaganda issues.
Postal markings and other related items are
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