Depicts a camel postman image from the famous post stamp above dates in Gregorian (left) and Islamic year (right) in Arabic numerals.

In the late 19th century, as Britain expanded its empire, Sudan became one of its colonies. Captain Edward Stanton, assigned to establish a functional postal system, faced the challenge of designing postage stamps. Before British control, Sudan had primarily used Egyptian stamps, valued by collectors for their Sudanese postmarks.

Stanton's inspiration for the iconic stamp design came from the arrival of regimental mail by camel instead of the usual steamer. To capture the essence, he had a local tribesman dress in a war kit and ride the camel in front of him. Stanton improvised with leather carriers as mail bag substitutes, filling them with straw and labeling them with the names of two towns, Khartoum and Berber, even though both were still under enemy control.

The first set of stamps was issued on March 1, 1898, with Berber captured by then, and Khartoum falling six months later. Despite the evolving political landscape, the design persisted and became symbolic of the country.

Sudan exclusively issued 'Camel postmen' stamps until 1931 when supplementary airmail stamps were introduced. The iconic design retained its prominence until 1951 when a new pictorial set marked the end of an era.

Denomination between mirrored flower and cotton ornaments, country name above (Democratic Republic of the Sudan).