PRE-ORDER 50 Years of Faroese Stamps

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The Faroe Islands issued their first stamps on 30 January 1975. The issue included 14 stamps featuring ancient maps of the Faroe Islands and landscape paintings.

To mark this occasion, a special minisheet will be issued on 24 February 2025, showcasing some of the most iconic Faroese stamps – including the ram and the traditional dance ring.

On December 19, 1895, the Faroese newspaper, Føringatíðindi, reprinted an article from Berlingske Tidende from October 1845 under the headline: "An English Peculiarity".

It read: In England, sending letters is inexpensive. The postal service sells small square pieces of paper with a picture of the Queen's head, which are placed on letters to be sent without payment. When the letters arrive at the post office, a black cross is marked over the "stamps" so they cannot be reused. These little Queen’s heads are quite charming, and the English demonstrate one of their peculiarities by collecting these "stamps". From this, one can see that 50 years ago, the Danes neither had stamps nor knew what they were. Now the boys in Tórshavn are just as "peculiar" as the English once were in collecting stamps.

These "boys" were collectors from the beginning when Danish stamps were sold in the Faroe Islands from 1870. It was likely the same "boys" who later wished for Faroese stamps. In the newspaper Dúgvan on May 15, 1909, a letter to the editor appeared with the headline: "A Reform – Knowledge is Power". It stated that when the bank Føroya Banki was established in 1906, the idea of Faroese banknotes was born – but why not Faroese stamps, it was asked. Several reasons were mentioned, including the fact that "a couple of Denmark's overseas territories, Iceland and the West Indies", had their own stamps.

Interest in Faroese stamps became even clearer in Dimmalætting on September 11, 1909, when the newspaper reported on a town council meeting that week. On the agenda was: "From Merchant C.C. Johansen and Trade Assistants Johs. O. Joensen and J. Jensen, a proposal for the introduction of Faroese stamps with local motifs. It was decided to refer the petitioners to the Løgting."
The issue of Faroese stamps had been discussed in the Løgting in 1906 without result, but it was raised again in the Faroese Løgting: "XXIV – Concerning the Issuance of Special Faroese Stamps". In addition to the same people who had written to the council, a new one joined, namely H. Wenningsted Tórgarð. The letter was dated Tórshavn on July 28, 1910. Several arguments were made for Faroese stamps: To create awareness of the Faroe Islands, to put the Faroes on the world map, to attract more tourists, financial gain from sales and collectors – it was pointed out that the postal service in the Faroe Islands in 1909 had sold stamps for 19,000 kroner, which could increase significantly with beautiful Faroese motifs on stamps with Faroese text. Enclosed were stamps from "Helgoland", which had both German and English text – so there was no reason why the Faroe Islands, as an "overseas territory", couldn’t have their own stamps.

The Løgting held three sessions on the matter. It ended with a decision on August 9, 1910, where 19 voted in favor and none against, that "The petitioners are recommended to address the General Post Office". The Løgting did not wish to take on any financial risk regarding postal transport between countries, which seemed to be the main reason for this decision.

In the many subsequent years, including two world wars, the Faroe Islands came close to getting their own stamps, but it ended with "provisional" stamps both in 1919 and again during the Second World War – but this time it was close. Germany had occupied Denmark on April 9, 1940, and the situation in the Faroe Islands became critical regarding stamps. In November 1940, the Løgting passed the following proposal: "The parliament recommends that the stamps, which the postal service here will likely have to print due to the war situation, be made with Faroese motifs." The Faroese Philatelic Association had also submitted a letter to the Løgting about possible Faroese stamps, but it did not help much, as this decision had no significant effect. According to the law on "Provisions for Temporary Government in the Faroe Islands", the Governor Hilbert had the final say in this matter. His decision was that Danish stamps in the Faroe Islands were to be overprinted to meet the need for stamps. It also helped that stamp packages came from Denmark via the Universal Postal Union in Bern to the Faroe Islands. In 1943, the party Fólkaflokkurin pushed again for Faroese stamps, but Hilbert rejected the idea. One could say that the war was "too short" for the Faroe Islands to get stamps this time, especially since there was a Governor who fought to maintain the status quo in the realm.

In 1948, the Home Rule Act was passed, and under it, the Faroe Islands could take over the postal area. Therefore, a decision was passed in the Løgting in September 1948, allowing the Landsstyre to take over the postal service through negotiations with the Danish authorities. However, these negotiations led to no result, and thus the authorization was "parked". Therefore, no Faroese stamps were issued at this time, but the Faroe Islands did get their own banknotes around this period.

Luck turns when you least expect it, as the saying goes. In the many years that followed, nothing decisive happened – the issue was revisited at regular intervals, but to cut a long story short, it was only in the early 1970s that discussions began about whether Faroese stamps should bear the inscription DANMARK or, as the Løgting decided in 1973, referring to the decision from 1948: Faroese stamps with FØROYAR. The Løgting stood firm on this.

The Faroe Islands received their first stamps on January 30, 1975, which was the release date – initially issued by P&T, the Danish postal service. Fourteen different stamps were issued – the motifs included maps of the Faroe Islands and landscape images, with painters also participating. I remember the day clearly, as I was very interested in this event as a boy.

The postal service was taken over a year later, on April 1, 1976, and in a naming competition, it was called "Postverk Føroya" – the idea came from a stamp collector, Hanseman Joensen – afterwards, Faroese stamps were issued by the Faroese postal service.
Álvur Danielsen