The Universal Postal Union Centenary 1974

The world postal service is part of the daily life of people everywhere. Its proper running is essential to the life of the international community. Although not widely known to the public at large, the Universal Postal Union, the co-ordinating body for the world's postal administrations, is one of the oldest intergovernmental organisations in existence.

The Universal Postal Union was founded in Berne, Switzerland, in 1874 as a result of the desire to overcome the great expenses and technical difficulties which hindered the exchange of mails between the countries of the world. At that time, international postal communication was based solely on bilateral agreements between countries, postage rates differed from one country to the next and revenue was apportioned between the originating country, the country of destination and any country through which the mail passed.

At the conference in Berne, representatives from twenty-two states attended, quickly reached an agreement and on9 October 1874 a "Treaty concerning the Establishment of a General Postal Union", commonly known as the "Berne Treaty", was signed. This was the forerunner of a multilateral convention governing the international postal service which came into force l July 1875. In 1878, the General Postal Union became the Universal Postal Union (UPU). 

In the year, 1974, the Universal Postal Union celebrates its centennial and to mark this occasion three stamps were issued by the P&T Dept on UPU Centenary Day, 9 October 1974.  Union Postale Universelle Centenary Miniature Sheet of India on .Three Stamps in MS shows U.P.U. Emblem, Birds & Nest (Madhubani style and UPU emblem and the Rs2.00 stamp arrows encircling the globe, indicating the universality of UPU.,  

The emblem depicts the globe encircled by five figures representing the races of man, relaying letters to one another. The Indian represents the Americas, the comely Caucasian is Europe, then come the Malayan, the Asian and African, all combining to put a postal girdle around the earth.