The France & Colonies Group was organized in 1941 by seventeen philatelists who were interested in the stamps and postal history of France and the French Community. It was incorporated in 1961 as the FRANCE AND COLONIES PHILATELIC SOCIETY, INC. (New York, nonprofit). Since then, the society has been home for the many collectors who enjoy, study, exhibit, and otherwise appreciate French philately The Society's interest in French philately includes the Colonies, Offices Abroad, Monaco, Europa, Territories, and New Independent Republics. Our goal is to add to your knowledge and pleasure of collecting through meetings, exhibits, and publications.

The society is hosting video presentations on topics relating to France and the French Community. These are held on the last Sunday of each month. Click on the "Video Presentations" link at left to register for these free presentations.

The Society is nonprofit and not commercial. Membership is open to anyone interested in this field, subject to acceptance by the Membership Committee. More information is on the Membership page.

Of major importance is the medal-winning quarterly journal, FRANCE AND COLONIES PHILATELIST. It contains illustrated articles by expert writers in their fields, news, a new-issues listing of France and colonies, letters to the editor, notes of interest, and bibliographic reviews. It is the only English-language publication in the United States devoted entirely to French area philately. Issues from the most recent five years are available to members only. Members' Appeals, seeking needed stamp or other material, or offering for sale or exchange, are carried in the PHILATELIST at no charge to members.

The FRANCE AND COLONIES PHILATELIST is distributed as a full-color PDF version available for download from this website. An announcement of the publication of each issue is sent to all members. Dealer-members may submit a quarter-page ad to be included at no charge.

Periodically the Society publishes books and pamphlets on original studies, catalogs on the philately and postal history of France and Colonies, and other related items. These may be ordered from the Corresponding Secretary using the Publication Order Form. In honor of the late Dr. Charles J, Vaurie, a charter member of the Society and the first editor of the PHILATELIST, the Vaurie Memorial Fund was established in 1976. The Fund is used to subsidize many of our publications. It is a revolving fund, with proceeds of the sale of current works used to subsidize future works. Publication No. 4 in this series, THE BORDEAUX ISSUE by Ruth and Gardner Brown, is our most ambitious effort to date. The only major publication in English in this field, it summarizes all that is currently known about this most intriguing issue.