Postage stamps

Postage stamps and their evolution are a visual archive that preserves the memory of each era. A particularly notable case was the Spanish Civil War, during which propaganda became a fundamental weapon widely employed by both sides because of the conflict's ideological nature.

As a propaganda tool, the postage stamp relies on the selection and simplification of concepts and images, their systematic repetition, and the reinforcement of attitudes aligned with a particular political regime. Postage stamps thus ceased to be mere administrative instruments and became symbolic vehicles helping legitimize a political project. Both the Republican government and the rebels used them to promote their respective causes.

More than 5,700 stamps have been documented, of which approximately 2,500 were issued by the Republican side and about 3,700 by the rebels. These stamps were produced by municipalities—including both provincial capitals and small towns—as well as by various institutions - and were used as voluntary charitable postage. Some carried considerable symbolic significance, while others featured surcharges or modifications to adapt them for use in particular territories.

The Nationalist stamps incorporated symbols such as the yoke and arrows and the cross; slogans including ¡Arriba España! ("Spain, Arise!"), Una, Grande y Libre ("One, Great, and Free"); and images of historical figures such as Isabella the Catholic and El Cid. In this way, they began to establish links with a historical past that would later become a central feature of Francoist Spain. This myth-making process of military, imperial, and religious glorification enabled the Franco regime, from its earliest days, to present its ideology as the legitimate heir to a glorious historical tradition.

Some ordinary stamps issued during the Second Republic, known as patriotic stamps, were overprinted—either with or without official authorization by the Francoists—with politically charged inscriptions such as the slogan ¡Viva España! ("Long Live Spain!"). These overprints, applied in ink, neither altered the stamp's value nor obscured the word “Republic”. The stamp depicting Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos is one such example.

The Republican side, by contrast, focused its philatelic propaganda on stamps bearing anti-fascist slogans, paying tribute to prominent figures, or featuring allegorical representations of the Republic. The issuance of special series, such as the submarine mail stamp shown here, which were sold in hard currency, also helped finance the purchase of arms.

Many of the locally issued stamps produced by both sides, such as the examples of Lucena in the rebel zone and Peñarroya Pueblonuevo in the Republican one, bore the name of the municipality that issued them and circulated both locally and throughout the respective Republican or rebel-held territory.

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