On June 20, 2018 the postal service of Bulgaria issued a souvenir sheet commemorating the 140th anniversary of Bulgarian Army.
In 1878 Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov, the Russian commissary in Bulgaria, issued a decree creating a Bulgarian army. The decree specified the exact way the new army was to be structured, positioned and commanded.
The first subdivisions of the Bulgarian army were formed with local militia groups that proved their valour in battles for the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish troops during the 1877-1878 war. Many positions in the new Bulgarian army were occupied by officers detached for duty from Russian army and from Bulgarian local militia. The new Bulgarian army consisted of four branches: infantry, artillery, cavalry and a sapper battalion. By the end of 1878 the Bulgarian army comprised 31,400 people.
Alexander Vachkov, the author of the souvenir sheet, depicted a modern soldier in a field uniform on the stamp. On the stamp, beside the soldier, and on the surface of the main sheet Vachkov placed silhouettes of Bulgarian soldiers wearing their authentic uniforms, which symbolically connects the past and the future of Bulgarian army. The original colour choice focuses viewers’ attention on modern soldiers but at the same time, pays homage to their predecessors who served and fought in Bulgaria during 19th and 20th centuries.
In the background of the souvenir sheet, we can also see a cavalryman on a horse. If it wasn’t for the monochromatic colouring of the picture, we would see that the cavalryman is wearing a gray great-coat with red shoulder straps and blue collar patches, and also a fur hat with a right-skewed blue top. Under his great-coat, the soldier has a black, single-breasted jacket and black trousers with blue stripes. This is exactly what soldiers of the Bulgarian army cavalry battalion looked like. The horses from of the Bulgarian cavalry were purchased by Russia specifically from Don and Terek Cossacks.
The presentation ceremony of the souvenir sheet was attended by Bulgarian Minister of Defence, who mentioned that the issuance of the sheet demonstrates how much respect we have, both for the historical date and for heroism and fortitude of Bulgarian soldiers, regardless of when those soldiers performed their duties.