Vichy France and World War II occupation of France

France was invaded in May 1940 by German forces and an armistice was signed in June. The northern and western parts of France remained occupied. Otherwise there was a French-controlled region in the southern half of France not including the Atlantic coast. That government was based in Vichy, therefore the origin of the name.

French stamps were still used in both parts. With the exception of a couple of earlier issues, "RF" was removed from stamps that were otherwise inscribed POSTES FRANÇAISES, FRANCE, ETAT FRANÇAIS or POSTE FRANCE.

Southern France was taken over by Germany and Italy in November 1942, making the Vichy government a puppet regime. With the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the remaining Vichy government soon retreated to Germany and fell when Allied forces captured Sigmaringen in April 1945.  File:France Petain.jpg|1941 80c Pétain File:France empire map semi.jpg|1941 empire semipostal File:France Lyonnais arms.jpg|1943 5f arms of Lyonnais 

Military occupation issues
 File:France St Nazaire.jpg 
 * In 1940 in Dunkirk, pairs of French stamps were handstamped Besetztes / Gebiet / Nordfrankreich in a frame in two different styles.
 * In 1945 in Lorient, French stamps were issued with a small Festung / Lorient overprint.
 * In 1945 in St. Nazaire, typeset provisionals reading ILOT / de / St - Nazaire / POCHE De ATLANTIQUE were issued.
 * Later in 1945, two values showing a Viking longboat were issued, inscribed CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE / DE / SAINT - NAZAIRE / FRONT ATLANTIQUE.

Occupation issues
Alsace and Lorraine were once again occupied by Germany in 1940. That year, German Hindenburg definitives were overprinted for each province.  File:France Alsace ovt.jpg|80pf Alsace overprint File:France Lothringen ovpt.jpg|40pf Lorraine overprint 





Colonial issues
The Vichy government considered the colonial empire still theirs. Therefore, it continued to issue stamps for them. While some colonial governments were loyal to the Vichy government or took a neutral position, Vichy-era stamps were never delivered to the colonies and so were never used postally.

There are several different standard colonial design series. There were also designs adapted from older stamps with a portrait of Pétain added. The Vichy government also reissued older designs with "RF" removed.

Even when colonies were captured by the Allies or declared for the Free French, the Vichy government would continue to issue stamps for them.  File:Fr Guinea Vichy soldier.jpg|French Guinea stamp from the semipostal series showing colonial soldiers. File:Fr off Kwangchow Vichy.jpg|Kwangchow issue with Pétain portrait. File:Indochina Vichy air.jpg|Indochina airmail, from one of the sets using previous designs with "RF" removed. File:Somali Coast Vichy green.jpg|Somali Coast, one of the values from the indigenous children charity series. 