Epaulettes (French: Épaulettes, Dutch: Epauletten)[a] is the name given by philatelists to the first series of postage stamps issued by Belgium.

They were produced as the result of a series of national reforms to the postal system in Belgium, based on the success of similar British measures adopted in 1840.

The stamps allowed postal costs to be pre-paid by the sender, rather than the receiver, and led to a sharp increase in the volume of mail.

Although quickly superseded by new types, Epaulettes proved influential and have since inspired several series of commemorative stamps.

[1] The idea of postage stamps, which would allow the sender to pay in advance, was officially sanctioned by Leopold I on the Loi apportant des modifications au régime des postes ("Law bringing modifications to the postal system") on 24 December 1847 while the radical liberal and future Prime Minister, Walthère Frère-Orban, served as Minister of Public Works.

[8] The stamps were officially described by an Avis ministériel ("Ministerial notice") of 1849 as each being a "small engraving representing the portrait of the King, with indication as to their value...they will be printed on a paper of which the reverse is coated in a thin layer of glue.

The stamp was designed by Charles Baugniet, based on the King's official portrait painted by the artist Liévin De Winne.

[10] The introduction of the postage stamp, along with daily delivery, allowed a large increase in the volume of mail carried.

[1] The creation of the stamps also led to a structural expansion of the national postage system, which in 1830 had counted just 123 post offices and 240 postmen.

[1] The Epaulettes were officially superseded in 1859, but remained legally valid until 1 July 1866 when, following Leopold I's death, all stamps bearing his effigy were demonetised.