Postage Stamps and Postal History of Greece - Commemorative Stamps

Commemorative Stamps

Starting with the 1896 Olympic issue, Greece has issued a number of commemorative stamps. Subjects depicted include political and military leaders, athletic events, ancient and modern Greek culture, archaeological discoveries, and wildlife. The "Anniversaries and events" set of March 15, 1982 marked the first contemporary use of the ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ inscription. A brief survey of Greek commemoratives:

• Europa - Beginning in 1960, Greece has issued yearly commemoratives as part of the Europa stamp program. It used the common design through 1973; starting in 1974, it has issued stamps with Greek themes like the 1980 Europa issue depicting Giorgos Seferis and Maria Callas.
• Olympics - Also starting in 1960, commemorative sets have been issued in honor of each Olympic Games; a number of these were issued for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, including a set depicting Greek medal winners.
• Ancient Greece - Subjects commemorated include Pythagoras (1955), ancient Greek theatre (1959), Minoan art (1961), Greek mythology (1972–74), Alexander the Great (1977), Aristotle (1978), Aristarchus of Samos (1980), the Elgin marbles (1984), the Muses (1991) and ancient Greek technology such as the Antikythera mechanism (2006).
• Political and military figures - Individuals commemorated include King Constantine I (1936), Eleftherios Venizelos (1946), King George II (1947), Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus (1977), Georgios Karaiskakis (1982), Andreas Papandreou (1997) and Constantine Karamanlis (1999).
• Wars - Several commemorative singles and sets have been dedicated to the Greek War of Independence and Greece's role in World War II. Subjects include Lord Byron (1924), the fall of Missolonghi (1926), General Charles Fabvier (1927), the Battle of Navarino (1927–28), the centenary of Greek independence (1930), Greek participation in World War II (1947), the Battle of Crete (1950) and the anti-Axis resistance (1982).
• Greek culture - Subjects have included the University of Athens (1937), the Mt. Athos monasteries (1963), the artist El Greco (1965), the University of Thessaloniki (1975) and actress/politician Melina Mercouri (1995).
• Wildlife - Commemorative subjects have included the Nature Conservation Year (1970), Greek wildflowers (1978) and rare birds (1979).
• Archaeology - Stamps have been issued to commemorate Heinrich Schliemann (1976, 1990), as well as archaeological discoveries at Thera (1973) and Vergina (1979).
• Airmail issues - Two sets of commemorative airmail stamps were issued in the 1950s; a 1952 set of four marking the third anniversary of the end of the Greek Civil War and a 1954 set of 3 for the fifth anniversary of NATO.