Following the
unification of Italy during 1860 and 1861, stamps in use in each of the territories that joined Italy were withdrawn from circulation and replaced with the stamps of the Sardinian kingdom. The transition took place in Modena, Parma and Romagna on February 1, 1860, in Naples on September 15, 1862 (although local authorities had previously printed stamps depicting the coat of arms of
Savoy), and in the Papal States - only in 1870. Matraire's stamps were reprinted several times, and those printed after 17 March 1861 are usually considered the first stamps of the
Kingdom of Italy.
Perforated stamps of the fourth standard edition of the Sardinian kingdom with an embossed profile of Victor Emmanuel II were issued in 1862. Starting on 1 January 1863, uniform postal rates went into effect. In 1862 Count Ambjörn Sparre won the stamp contract, but his designs were not liked, and he seemed unable to produce the stamps. In danger of running out of stamps altogether, at the end of 1862 the Italian government once again turned to Matraire, who quickly produced a stamp with a nominal value of 15 centesimo by
lithography, depicting the profile of King Victor Emanuel II and the inscription "Postale italiano". The contract with Count Sparre was annulled in March 1863, and a new contract was given to the British printing house
De La Rue. A series of eight stamps with the inscription "Poste italiane" in denominations from 1
centesimo to 2
lira was issued on December 1, 1863. Italy joined the
Universal Postal Union on 1 July 1875. Until 1877, Italian stamps were used in
San Marino.
Umberto I Umberto I succeeded his father in 1878, which necessitated a new issue of stamps. First appearing on 15 August 1879, they were the first stamps of the kingdom to be entirely designed, engraved, and printed by Italians. Since considerable stocks of Victor Emmanuel stamps were left over and finances were poor, the old stamps continued in use for some years, and some values of stamps were little-used during Umberto's reign. stamp for the Troins-Rome flight The new series incorporated rates and colors mandated by the
Universal Postal Union.
Victor Emmanuel III The first stamps with a portrait of
Victor Emanuel III appeared in July 1901. The first series of commemorative stamps was issued in April 1910 to mark the 50th anniversary of the
Expedition of the Thousand. The world's first
airmail stamps were issued in 1917 when
Poste italiane overprinted their existing
special delivery stamps.
Fascist regime The Imperial Series Until 1929, all definitive stamps were issued with the portrait of the king or the coat of arms. In April 1929, the so-called "Imperial Series" ("Serie Imperiale") was released, the first definitive series of
Benito Mussolini's fascist government. The stamp designs featured images of the
Capitoline she-wolf with
Romulus and Remus,
Julius Caesar,
Octavian Augustus and
Italia, and contained the
fasces, symbol of the fascist regime.
Italian Social Republic In 1943, the Germans set up the
Italian Social Republic (RSI) in northern Italy, a Nazi
puppet state with Mussolini installed as leader after he was
rescued by German paratroopers. File:Ancona, cattedrale di S. Ciriaco - francobollo della Repubblica Sociale Italiana.jpg|Stamp of the Italian Social Republic, 1944 File:ITA 1944 MiNr0655Y mt B002.jpg|Stamp of the Italian Social Republic, 1944 File:ITA 1944 MiNr0657Y mt B002.jpg|Stamp of the Italian Social Republic, 1944 File:ITA 1944 MiNr0659Y mt B002.jpg|Stamp of the Italian Social Republic, 1944 == Italian Republic ==