Europa Postage Stamp

Europa Postage Stamp

Europa stamps have been issued annually since 1956. First sets representing the founding 6 members of the ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community, then by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in 1959, (first stamps issued in 1960) and by PostEurop since 1993. Initially in 1956 a total of 13 stamps were issued with a common design from 6 different countries. A common theme of Peace and Welfare through agriculture and industry was used for 1957. The common design reappeared in 1958 and continued until 1973. From 1974 the designs reflect a common theme. The common design idea replaced the common theme in 1984, which was the CEPT 25th Anniversary (1959–84) and shows a symbolic bridge, said to represent Liaison, Exchange and Communication. With the split of posts and telecoms providers in most countries, CEPT is no longer responsible, but the postal authorities under the guidance of PostEurop continue the Europa tradition. From 1993 all the stamps have "Europa" inserted into the design in small print. For the new millennium in 2000, the common design once more replaced the common theme. The stamp design for 2000 clearly shows a column of 6 stars representing the original 6 members of the ECSC. 4 Children,(of different heritage) represent Europe's future and are adding to the Vertical Star Column with the background depicting the GREEN letter E meaning a fertile Europe. CEPT is from the French acronym Conférence Européenne des administrations des Postes et des Télécommunications.

  • Faeroese Europa stamp 1979 with the CEPT logo

  • Faeroese Europa stamp 1996 with the EUROPA logo

Read more about Europa Postage Stamp:  Common Design Issues (with The Exception of 1957), Common Theme Issues of CEPT (with The Exception of 1984), Common Theme Issues of PostEurop (with The Exception of 2000), Sources

Famous quotes containing the words postage stamp, europa, postage and/or stamp:

    “Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    “I care not what the sailors say:
    All those dreadful thunder-stones,
    All that storm that blots the day
    Can but show that Heaven yawns;
    Great Europa played the fool
    That changed a lover for a bull.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    “Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    “Now stamp the Lord’s Prayer on a grain of rice,
    A Bible-leaved of all the written woods
    Strip to this tree: a rocking alphabet,
    Genesis in the root, the scarecrow word,
    And one light’s language in the book of trees.”
    —Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)