Republic of Upper Volta President and the National Assembly for a term of five years. Shortly after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the Alliance for Democracy. Thomas Sankara came to power by a coup on August 4, 1983. After coming to power, he formed the National Council of the Revolution (NCRC), and became the president of the twenty-man council. Under his rule, the name of the state was changed on August 4, 1984, from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning "the homeland of upright men." From 1958 to 1960, the Republic of Upper Volta was headed by a High
Postage stamps and postal history of Burkina Faso to be issued throughout the 1920s, then superseded in 1928 by a definitive series of 23 stamps featuring three designs: a Hausa chief, Hausa woman, and Hausa warrior. Upper Volta also participated in the Colonial Exposition Issue of 1931. In 1932 the colony was dissolved and its territory divided between Côte d’Ivoire, French Sudan and Niger. Upper Volta was reconstituted in 1947, its postal administration continued to be part of French West Africa until the establishment of the Republic of Upper Volta in 1958. The Republic operated its own postal system, and issued its first stamp in 1959, marking the