Designs on the postage stamps of Azerbaijan closely follow the political history of Azerbaijan. The country briefly obtained independence in 1918, lost it to the Soviet Union in 1920, and re-acquired it in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Throughout that period 87 different persons have been depicted on stamps, excluding those featuring national football teams. Some people are featured on souvenir sheets. The currency value of the stamps (in Azerbaijani manats or qapiks) varies depending on the year of issue. The person featured most frequently over the years is President Heydar Aliyev (14 times). Zarifa Aliyeva, John Paul II, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, and Nasiraddin Tusi have been featured twice (excluding overprints).
The first Azerbaijani national postage stamps were issued by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918–1920); they depicted ordinary individuals. From 1920s until 1991 Azerbaijan used Soviet postage stamps.[1] The national postage authority Azermarka began functioning in 1992. People have been featured on stamps of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 1993. The first person to be featured on a postage stamp after the dissolution of the Soviet Union was Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan. In 1998 the company Europhila Stamp Ltd put into circulation illegal postage stamps, allegedly issued in Nakhchivan, which depict Diana, Princess of Wales and the British pop group Spice Girls.[2] Genuine Azerbaijani postage stamps of that year, featuring Princess Diana, are shown below.
| Year | Person(s) | Image | Value | Dimensions (mm) | Circulation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Heydar Aliyev | 25 AZN | 36×40 | 25,000[3] | Se-tenant stamps | |
| 1994 | Heydar Aliyev | 150 AZN | 100×70[A] | 70,000[4] | — | |
| 1994 | Pierre de Coubertin | 100 AZN | — | — | Dedicated to the IOC centenary | |
| 1994 | Fuzuli | 10 AZN | 33×50 | 20,000[C][5] | — | |
| 1994 | Jalil Mammadguluzadeh | 20 AZN | 31×52 | 100,000[6] | Dedicated to Mammadguluzadeh's 125th anniversary | |
| 1994 | Peter von Bilderling, Alfred Nobel, Ludvig Nobel, Robert Nobel | 50 AZN | — | — | Dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Brothers Company | |
| 1994 | Mammed Amin Rasulzade | 15 AZN | 40×40 | 100,000[7] | — | |
| 1995 | Heydar Aliyev and Boutros Boutros-Ghali | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 36,000[8] | Dedicated to the 50th anniversary of UN | |
| 1995 | Bonnie Blair, Nancy Kerrigan, Takanori Kono, Philippe LaRoche, Katja Seizinger, Alexei Urmanov | 10 AZN (Urmanov) 25 AZN (Kerrigan), 40 AZN (Blair), 50 AZN (Kono), 80 AZN (LaRoche), 200 AZN (Seizinger) | — | — | 1994 Winter Olympics theme | |
| 1995 | Mary Cleave, Valentina Tereshkova, Tamara Jernigan, Wendy Lawrence, Mae Jemison, Cady Coleman, Ellen Shulman, Mary Weber | 100 AZN each | 28.45×42.58[B], 36×78[D] | 125,000[D][9] | Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Apollo 11 spaceflight | |
| 1995 | Uzeyir Hajibeyov | 250 AZN | 31×48 | 50,000[10] | — | |
| 1995 | Vahid Iskandarov | 400 AZN | 31×48 | 50,000[10] | — | |
| 1995 | John Lennon | 500 AZN | 42.5×28.6 | 80,000[11] | Features Lennon's self-portrait[11] | |
| 1995 | Mustafa Topchubashev | 300 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[12] | — | |
| 1996 | Muhammad Ali | 100 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 20,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Huseyn Aliyev | 100 AZN | 42.6×29.5[B], 137×100[D] | 75,000[B], 25,000[D][14] | — | |
| 1996 | Saïd Aouita | 200 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Rashid Behbudov | 100 AZN | 48×31 | 50,000[15] | — | |
| 1996 | Nadia Comaneci | 300 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Nazim Huseynov | 500 AZN | 74×104[A] | 25,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Olga Korbut | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Carl Lewis | 50 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Greg Louganis | 400 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1996 | Yusif Mammadaliyev | 100 AZN | 48×31 | 50,000[16] | — | |
| 1996 | Li Ning | 150 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[13] | — | |
| 1997 | Ilyas Afandiyev | 250 AZN | 48.3×31.8 | 40,000[17] | — | |
| 1997 | Aziz Aliyev | 250 AZN | 48.3×31.8 | 40,000[17] | — | |
| 1997 | Tofik Bakhramov | 1,500 AZN | 51.3×38.5 | 50,000[D][18] | — | |
| 1997 | Italy national football team, Argentina national football team, Uruguay national football team, Brazil national football team, England national football team, Germany national football team | 250 AZN each | 51.3×38.5[B] | — | — | |
| 1997 | Fatali Khan Khoyski | 250 AZN | 48.3×31.8 | 40,000[17] | — | |
| 1997 | Nariman Narimanov | 250 AZN | 48.3×31.8 | 40,000[17] | — | |
| 1997 | Huseyn Rasulbayov | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[19] | — | |
| 1997 | Khaqani | 250 AZN | 30.6×48.3 | 40,000[D][20] | — | |
| 1998 | Hasan Aliyev | 500 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[21] | — | |
| 1998 | Heydar Aliyev | 500 AZN | 51×37.5[B], 114×890[A] | 50,000[22] | Issued for the 75th anniversary of Aliyev | |
| 1998 | Ashig Alasgar | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[23] | — | |
| 1998 | Bahram V | 100 AZN | 22.1×24.4 | 1,000,000[24] | — | |
| 1998 | Bulbul | 500 AZN | 28.5×42.6 | 25,000[25] | — | |
| 1998 | Diana, Princess of Wales and ´Elizabeth II | 400 AZN each | 42.6×28.5[B], 142×135[D] | 240,000[B], 40,000[D][26] | Two sets. Each sheetlet designed by grisaille | |
| 1998 | Gara Garayev | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[23] | Dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Garayev | |
| 1998 | Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov | 500 AZN | 42.6×28.5[B], 70×100[A] | 50,000[27] | — | |
| 1998 | Katarina Witt, Elvis Stojko, Midori Ito, Kristi Yamaguchi, John Curry and Chen Lu | 250 AZN each | 42.6×28.5[B], 138×115[C] | 50,000[27] | 1998 Winter Olympics theme | |
| 1998 | Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar | 250 AZN | 42.6×28.5 | 40,000[23] | — | |
| 1999 | Heydar Aliyev | 1,000 AZN | 28×40 | 125,000[28] | Coupling stamps | |
| 1999 | Jafar Jabbarly | 250 AZN | 42×30 | 100,000[29] | Dedicated to Jabbarly's centenary | |
| 2000 | Sabit Rahman | 1,000 AZN | 48×30 | 100,000[30] | Issued for the 90th anniversary of Rahman | |
| 2000 | Rasul Rza | 250 AZN | 40×30 | 25,000[31] | Issued for the 90th anniversary of Rza | |
| 2001 | Namig Abdullayev, Zemfira Meftakhetdinova, Vugar Alakbarov | 1,000 AZN each | 42×28 each | 25,000[D][32] | 2000 Summer Olympics theme | |
| 2001 | Heydar Aliyev | 5,000 AZN | 32×51 | 10,000[33] | Dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence. The first Azerbaijan postage stamp produced with genuine 22 carat gold[33] | |
| 2001 | Heydar Aliyev and Vladimir Putin | 1,000 AZN | 42×28 | 20,000[34] | — | |
| 2001 | Yuri Gagarin | 3,000 AZN | 42×28[B], 83×57[A] | 20,000[35] | Issued for the 40th anniversary of the first human spaceflight | |
| 2001 | Nasiraddin Tusi | 3,000 AZN | 60×48 | 25,000[36] | Issued for the 800th anniversary of Tusi | |
| 2002 | Heydar Aliyev and Jiang Zemin | 1,000 AZN | 40×30 | 170,000[37] | Dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijani-Chinese relations | |
| 2002 | John Paul II and Heydar Aliyev | 1,500 AZN | 42×28[B], 80×65[A] | 20,000[38] | Dedicated to the visit of John Paul II to Baku on May 22–23, 2002 | |
| 2002 | Rauf Hajiyev | 5,000 AZN | 40×28 | 25,000[39] | Dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Hajiyev | |
| 2002 | Turkey national football team | 5,000 AZN | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | Zarifa Aliyeva | 3,000 AZN | 40×28 | 25,000[40] | — | |
| 2004 | Heydar Aliyev | 500 AZN | 28×30 | 500,000[41] | — | |
| 2004 | Heydar Aliyev | 10,000 AZN | 28×40[B], 60×80[A] | 10,000[42] | — | |
| 2004 | Molla Juma | 500 AZN | — | — | — | |
| 2005 | John Paul II | 3,000 AZN | — | — | — | |
| 2005 | Heydar Aliyev | 1,000 AZN | 28×30 | 1,000,000[43] | — | |
| 2006 | Heydar Aliyev | 60 qapiks | 28×30 | 250,000[44] | — | |
| 2006 | Suleyman Rustam | 20 qapiks | 28×40 | 5,000[45] | — | |
| 2006 | Samed Vurgun | 10 qapiks | 28×40 | 15,000[45] | — | |
| 2007 | Azim Azimzadeh | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 10,000[D][46] | — | |
| 2007 | Huseyn Javid | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,000[47] | — | |
| 2007 | Kerim Kerimov | 1 AZN | — | — | — | |
| 2008 | Hasan Abdullayev | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,720[48] | — | |
| 2008 | Heydar Aliyev | 1 AZN | 28×40 | 15,360[49] | Dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Aliyev | |
| 2008 | Zarifa Aliyeva | 1 AZN | 28×40 | 12,280[50] | Dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Aliyeva | |
| 2008 | Lev Landau | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,720[48] | Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Landau | |
| 2008 | Mikayil Mushfig | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,720[51] | Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Mushfig | |
| 2009 | Sattar Bahlulzade | 20 qapiks | 28×40[B], 99.5×74.5[A] | 20,000[A][52] | — | |
| 2009 | Leyla Mammadbeyova | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,000[53] | Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Mammadbayova | |
| 2009 | Jalil Mammadguluzadeh | 20 qapiks | 28×40 | 100,000[54] | Dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Mammadguluzadeh | |
| 2009 | Nasiraddin Tusi | 20 qapiks | 28×42 | 50,000[55] | ||
| 2010 | Alasgar Alakbarov | 20 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,000[56] | — | |
| 2010 | Shafaat Mehdiyev | 60 qapiks | 40×28 | 100,000[57] | — |
A ^ : As a souvenir sheet
B ^ : As a stamp
C ^ : As a sheet
D ^ : As a sheetlet