Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states situated on the island of Borneo. It was under British protection (under the Englishman James Brooke who had been given the title of Rajah by the sultan of Brunei) from the middle of the 19^th century until 1941, when it was occupied by the Japanese. It was returned to the Brooke family in 1946. The last white rajah ceded it to Britain and it became a British Crown Colony in 1946. All three white rajahs were portrayed on the stamps intended for the centenary in 1942, which was delayed as a result of the Japanese invasion. In 1963 it was granted independence and became one of the founding members of Malaysia.

Sarawak had its own stamps from 1869 until the formation of the state of Malaysia.