Flags Ahoy

2021: Tall Ships Race

A sailing ship at the port of Mariehamn ready for the 2021 Tall Ships Race and a stamp issued for the event.  That was the plan. Covid had other ideas and restrictions at the time meant it had to be cancelled. Undaunted the Åland islanders pivoted to a substitute and created a Maritime Folk Festival with food, drinks and entertainment.  They would have to wait until 2024 to welcome the fleet of sail ships to Mariehamn, and gain another stamp.

1989: 10th Anniversary of Home Rule in Greenland

The Greenland flag flying over land and sea

1981: 125th Anniversary of  Danube Commission

For fans of stamp on stamps these feature the Danube commission stamps from 1967 with the paddle steamers Franz I (1830) and the Arpad (1834) sailing underneath.  The latter named after a Hungarian hero, head of the confederation of Magyar tribes

1981: Historic Hungarian Flags

The 40f stamp shows the House of Arpad flag(11th Century). 60f Hunyadi Family flag (15th Century) at the time they were the most powerful nobles in the Kingdom of Hungary.

1979: OCAM Summit Meeting, Cotonou

Changing continents and a group of nations - OCAM (Organization Commune Africaine et Malgache), Founded in 1961 it was disbanded in 1985. The stamp shows the members flags at the time

Fly the Flag

Åland flying the flag when they gained the right to have their own stamps in 1984

1964: 40th Anniversary of the Mongolian Constitution

An even bigger flag makes an appearance for Mongolia

1984: Winter Olympic Games -Sarajevo

A flag for all nations

 

1977: History of the Modern Olympic Games

competing for gold starting with the perfect symbolism of Louis Spiridon in 1896 winning the Marathon

1998: Football World Cup

Of course the Olympics this year is in Paris but at the moment sports lovers are watching a football at the Euros in Germany where the hosts are looking impressive.

Sunday Stamps theme is - Flags - fly over to See It On A Postcard

 

Flags

 

2001: Centenary of Royal Navy Submarine Service. Flags and Ensigns

 

The Jolly Roger flag first flown by British  submarines in WW1 with a FDC photo of ship's figureheads from an earlier age on the high seas when no doubt a pirate flag was raised for a different endeavor.

1977-1984: Definitive - Folk Customs

Better sticking to dry land at Zurich's April Spring Festival - Sechselauten, The rider's flag flying at a gallop, in the background is the Böögg, a snowman on top of a bonfire whose head is filled with fireworks. It is said that the faster his head explodes the finer the summer will be.

1990: Latin-American History (5th Series)

From folk festivals to folk costumes of Latin America and one to test my patchy flag knowledge, but happily the stamps tell all - Nicaragua, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Paraguay.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Flags - flying at See It On A Postcard.

Maps and Flags

 

2020: Europa - Ancient Postal Routes

Winner of the peoples vote for most beautiful Europa stamp of 2020 and it is rather luscious.

1981: Australia Day

A more stripped back map but we do have a flag

1959: 10th Anniversary of the DDR (Design - Grunewald)

East Germany issued a extensive Flags set for their 10th Anniversary, these four feature 20 - Steel Worker, 40 - Leipzig Stadium, 50 - Tractor Driver, 70 - Shipbuilding

1991: Discount Stamps - Skansen 100 Years (Design T Oldenburg)

The Swedish flag flies over Skansen Open Air Museum. The museum shows how life was lived in different parts of Sweden before industrialisation. Sounds like one could spend a lot of time in its 75 acres.

1998: Football World Cup - France (Design Briat)

As we are in a World Cup year here are lots of flags on Cup Winners France's stamp.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Flags and Maps - travel to See It On A Postcard

 

Flags

1992: Protect the Alps (Design - F Dorner)

All roads lead to the Alps in this flag fest.  The mountain range's outer perimeter is uniquely defined by international treaty.  The Alpine Convention which this stamp celebrates aims to protect the environment and have sustainable development.

1989: Europa - Toys (Design - B Linnemann; Engraver - A Kuhimann|)

Maybe these little soldiers will help. The wooden toys are the late Kay Bojesen's creation and I think these are supposed to be his royal life guards with their Danish flag.  Perhaps his monkeys are more famous but the company that bears his name still creates wooden toys from sustainable sources.

1998: Europa - National Festivals (Design - A Kuhimann)

 

 

A horse and its rosette at a Danish Agricultural Show.  If there are cute rabbits in any of those tents then that would be where I would be heading.

2004: 50 Years of the Åland Flag(Design: Robert Jansson)

How delightful it would be to sail around the Åland Islands on this stamp day.

Old Canadian Postcard

 

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - Flags - flutter over to See It On A Postcard

 

All Yellow

Felix the Rabbit is doing something I would like to try on this FDC - blowing an alpenhorn.

2005: Felix the Rabbit

Felix is a travelling stuffed rabbit who gets lost at the airport and writes letter home to his owner Sophie as he travels the world.  The stories are written by the German author Annette Langen who has a rather topical webpage at the moment called Felix v Corona complete with bravery medals to download and a letter from Felix (in a variety of languages) to be sent.

1980: PTT Services (Design - Karl Tanner)

 

 Here is a letter box for Felix to post his letter before jumping on the postbus to take him to his next destination

1999: 150th Anniversary Swiss Postal Service

as he travels the world

1967: Flags of EFTA countries (abolition of EFTA tariffs) - Design - Rudolf  Mumprecht)

 

I wonder where he will choose next?   

1977: Journey of a Letter (Design - Henri Galeron)

Why not nip over the border to France.

 

 

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - The Colour Yellow - for all shades See It On A Postcard

Swedish Seasons

2011: Blue and Yellow (Design - H Karlsson)

The Swedish flag flies this week for Sunday Stamps

1990: Maximum Card 59 'Autocumulus lenticularia'

and it is winter when

1990: Clouds and Weather (Photo - L-G Nilsson; Engraver - Martin Morck)

wave clouds have formed downwind of the hills and mountains.  I must admit our weather has been more like the postmark than the stamp -

2001: Dogs (Design - Ingemar Jacobsen)

rain-wear essential.  Not necessary if you are a Golden Retriever with a beautifully dense and water repellent coat. The days turn into months with flowers appearing so surely spring  cannot be far away

2007: Spring Feelings (Design - Lars Melander)

exploding with colour and making one dance with joy.  Lars Melander has named his 'Spring Feeling' stamps -Birds Greeting, Brighter Times, Spring Dizzy and Tweet.

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - A country not your own - explore more at See It On A Postcard
 

Flags of Nations

1993: Lake Constance European Region (Design - Wittmer)

This stamp is also called 'Collaboration about Bodensee' indicated by the three country flags of the surrounding nations, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with the paddle steamer Hohentweil (originally owned by the German Railways from 1913-1962) steaming along the lake. I have a Swiss map card here which shows the lake geography and mountains.

2011: Blue and White (Design - Ingela Peterson Arrhenius)

The flag of Sweden is celebrated every year with a public holiday on the 6th June and in 2011 they also got the opportunity to put it on their post. The three crowns seen on the colour coordinated person are the national emblems of Sweden and I like the reverse image of the daisies by the flag pole stamp.   The last stamp I guess shows Stockholm's sightseeing tourist 'hop on hop off' red bus.

1986: Flags of Member States; 7th Issue (Design - Ole Hamann)

My final flag is from the United Nations familiar 'Flags' series. The Antigua and Barbuda flag was adopted in 1967 to mark self-government.

'Fresh British Milk' Bottles

Sunday Stamps II theme this week is - Flags - fly over to See It On A Postcard
 

Flag Waving

1983: Nordic House, Tórshavn (Design - B Jákupsson)

Nordic flags flying over national costumes.  Thanks to the Wikipedia page showcasing the artist Bárður Jákupsson's stamps I can identify the costumes from left to right as - Greenland, Sweden, Iceland; Saami, Denmark, Aland; Norway, Faroe Islands and Finland.  In the year the stamps were issued, 1983, the Nordic House initiative (promoting Nordic culture), opened in Tórshavn this fascinating building which used materials from all the Nordic countries in its construction can be seen here.  

A grey day in Greenland but their flag certainly brightens up the roof tops and it is the only national flag of the Nordic countries without a Nordic cross but uses the same colour combination as the Danish flag which is often flown by its side.

1989: 10th Anniversary of Home Rule in Greenland (Design - Claus Achton Friis)

The creator of the Greenland flag said the white stripe represents the Greenland glaciers and ice cap, the red stripe the ocean and the semicircle the sun setting into the sea.  Lets set sail

1979: The Voyage of Odin's Raven

with Manx and Norwegian flag flying on a replica Viking longboat called Odin's Raven which sailed from Norway to the Isle of Man in May 1979. The voyage was not uneventful and included a capsize off the coast of the Isle of Skye. The crew consisted of 11 people from the Isle of Man and 5 from Norway and I imagine they would have gained a great respect for those early Viking voyagers who even made it to Newfoundland but not

1981: Australia Day

as far as Australia.  I'm guessing the stamp's running cancel is connected to the then forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 1982. Time to run up to the top of a hill

1966: Scouting

to semaphore a message.

1959: International Letter Writing Week (Design - Adam Cziglenyi)

but I know that this would be the preferred means of communication for our little community.

Sunday Stamps II prompt this week is the letter F - here for Flags and Faroe Islands - for more fly over to See It On A Postcard


 

Y

1968: Paintings by Van Gogh

Where better to start than with a postman and thanks to Vincent Van Gogh his name lives on, Joseph Roulin. Van Gogh loved to paint portraits but he could not afford to pay anyone to sit for him however the Roulin family in Arles were happy to do so for nothing and in exchange Vincent gave each family member one of the numerous paintings he made of them; worth more than money I think.  From a yellow background to

a yellow jacket worn by Joseph Roulin's eldest son Armand who at the time of the painting was aged 17.

1980: Flags of Member Nations (1st Series) - Yugoslavia

Here is a flag that does not flutter in the wind anymore when the nations of this part of the world were joined under the one flag of Yugoslavia.  The various nations featured individually on

1957: Yugoslav Costumes (1st Series)

Yugoslavia's series of stamps featuring national costumes. This scene above shows a Croatian family of shepherds

1961: Yugoslav Costumes (2nd series)

and here are some Macedonians dancing into the stamp to the sound of a drum. At first I was unsure of the significance of the dates 1941-1961 but 1941was the date the Nazi's invaded Yugoslavia (the April War) when the Royal Yugoslav Army collapsed and the king and several ministers fled into exile.  I discovered that 1941 was also important for the forming of the first partisan battalions and resistance to the occupying armies, a date search revealed there were medals awarded to the armed forces in 1961 to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Yugoslav People's Army (the founding of the Partisan Army).

The stamp designer is Zdenka Sertić (1899-1986), artist and ethnographer who produced a number of folkloric stamp series for Yugoslavia and her nephew has produced a beautifully illustrated page of her work here (the English translation is at the bottom).

Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter Y -  for Yemen, Yugoslavia and yellow - See It On A Postcard