In 2023, the joint stamp series of the European countries is dedicated to the theme of peace, showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people. In each country, one of the stamps in the series has its own designer, while the other stamp in the series is issued according to a common design in all participating countries. The new philatelic releases will first be available for purchase at the post offices of the largest cities, as well as in the e-shop of Latvijas Pasts https://veikals.pasts.lv/. The first day cancellation of the stamps is scheduled to take place at Riga post office No. 10, 41/43 Elizabetes Street, Riga, from 9 AM to 6 PM on the 9th of May 2023.
Traditionally, Latvijas Pasts releases two stamps in the joint Europa series every year. This year, one of the stamps in the series has its own designer in each country, while the other stamp in the series is issued according to a common design in all participating countries. At the suggestion of Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian postal operator, the theme of the 2023 joint stamp series of the European countries is dedicated to peace in order to show solidarity with Ukraine and promote the general value of peace for all humanity.
The authors of the common design stamp Peace – The Highest Value of Humanity are Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir. The face value of the stamp is €1.82, and it corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in Group 7. The print run of the stamp in Latvia is 50,000 copies.
The designer of the second stamp released by Latvijas Pasts and of the new cover is the Estonian artist Indrek Ilves. The face value of the stamp is €1.63, and it covers the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in Group 8. The print run of this stamp is 62,000 copies. The release of the stamps is accompanied by the issue of a cover with a print run of 500 copies.
In order to choose the design of the single postage stamp for Europe, the PostEurop association held a special competition, and the winning artists explain the motif of their design as follows: “The world needs a new Peace symbol, uniting all nations. Cultural differences perchance a barrier for a state of Peace. If only mankind could respect each other’s differences by understanding their significance and responding to them with consideration, the world would be a better place. This design shows a visual metaphor for a peacefully integrated, cooperative society in which people embrace each other’s culture. It was inspired by the Celtic Love Knot symbol, with interlocking hearts. The colour palette illustrates all the nations in the world. By adding hands with intertwined fingers, it conveys the message of mutual respect.”
According to the special jury’s opinion, the winning design motif reflects the idea of the competition in the most appropriate way. It is a successful attempt to create a new sign representing peace on the basis of the European centuries-old visual motif of a knot, symbol of infinite unity, friendship and love. This universal sign is also a perfect philatelic representation in relation to the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of PostEurop in 2023.
PostEurop has been representing the interests of European public postal operators since 1993. Its members are 55 postal operators in 53 countries and territories which collectively operate 175,000 retail counters, employ 2 million people and link 800 million people daily.
