Brunei is located on the North West coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. The first stamps of Brunei were the 1895 “Star and crescent” set, long considered to be bogus but subsequently shown to be genuine, although valid only for mail within the state and to Sarawak and Labuan. In 1906 the stamps of Labuan were overprinted BRUNEI. In 1907 the first regular stamp set inscribed BRUNEI POSTAGE & REVENUE was issued. This set remained in use until 1949 during which time it went through many different printings.

Brunei during World War 2 was under Japanese occupation and after Japan’s surrender was placed under British Military Administration. In 1952 a new series of definitive stamps were issued featuring Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin which was another long-running series which lasted until 1972. Regular commemorative and definitive stamp issues have continued since then. Prior to Japan’s entry into WW 2 can be found censored and later the Japanese overprinted stamps during the occupation with these being very scarce.