Roméo LeBlanc stands in front of his official portrait, which will be used in a new stamp honouring the former governor general, who died last June at 81. (Jim Young/Reuters)

Canada Post is set to release a new stamp commemorating the life and achievements of former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.

LeBlanc was the first Acadian to be appointed governor general, a post he held from 1995 to 1999. He died in his hometown of Memramcook, N.B., last June 24 at age 81.

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean will unveil the stamp in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Friday.

The new stamp is a portrait of LeBlanc with a deep red background, and across the bottom are a Canadian flag, a New Brunswick flag and an Acadian flag.

Jim Phillips, the director of stamp services for Canada Post, said it's a long-standing tradition to honour prime ministers and governors general with a stamp soon after their death.

"It's really an honour for us to be able to do this sort of thing for famous Canadians and someone who has given so much to Canada," Phillips said.

The new stamp will be available at Canada Post outlets across the country on Feb. 8, the anniversary of the day LeBlanc took the governor general's office in 1995. A commemorative envelope will also be released with a Memramcook postmark.

Casual portrait

Christan Nicholson, who painted the portrait of LeBlanc featured on the stamp, said when LeBlanc sat for the portrait he was in a suit and tie but soon the governor general decided to change into a sweater. When the pullover didn't look right with his tie, Nicholson said, he offered LeBlanc his old cardigan with a missing button and he accepted.

"All I ever hear back from everybody who has ever known him is that the portrait really represents the kind of man that he was, the roots that he came from," Nicholson said.

"So I think it's really fitting that he's so informal."

That portrait sat next to LeBlanc's coffin at his funeral last summer in Memramcook.

Before becoming Canada's 25th governor general, LeBlanc was a longtime Liberal MP, cabinet minister and then senator. He was a foreign correspondent with Radio-Canada and then press secretary to prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, before being elected to Parliament in 1972.

Among LeBlanc's first decisions after becoming governor general was to reopen the grounds and the residence at Rideau Hall to the public. It is estimated that 125,000 people now visit the home of the governor general each year.