English: From its conquest by the British in 1839 up to 1937, British Aden was a dependency of India and consequently postage stamps from India were used. Only the postmark (either "Aden", "124" or "B-22") would indicate that the postal item had been posted in Aden.

Dedicated stamps for Aden needed to be issued when Aden was separated from India in 1937 to become a Crown Colony ruled from London. Normally, crown colony stamps would bear the effigy of the ruling monarch but when the new stamps were prepared in 1936, the so-called abdication crisis was unfolding. Not quite sure if Edward VIII would still be king when the stamps were printed, the postal authorities played it safe and designed a stamp without any royal portrait, which was issued 1 April 1937. A new regular issue bearing the effigy of George VI was issued in 1939. The Indian rupee continued to be the currency of Aden.

In 1951, following India's independence in 1947, Aden's regular issue denominated in Indian rupees was overprinted with East African shillings and cents.

A new regular issue denominated in East African shillings was issued following the creation of the short-lived Federation of South Arabia in 1963. In 1965, this currency was replaced by the South Arabia (later South Yemen) dinar (1 dinar = 1000 fils).