Although it had been the largest and most influential of the Trucial States in the nineteenth century, Abu Dubhai faded into relative obscurity until oil was discovered off Das Island in 1956. The British Postal Agency in Bahrain provided service to construction workers until an agency was opened in Abu Dhabi on March 30, 1963. Exactly one year later the first stamps for Abu Dhabi were issued. Local control of postal services began on January 1, 1967.

One of three stamps in a set commemorating Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan.