AUSTRALIA- Under Sail

Dynamic photographs featuring different types of racing yachts appear on three stamps from Australia issued January 11. Recreational racing was first recorded in the Australian colonies in the 1820s. Today, there are more than 360 yacht clubs around the island nation.. The stamps show three distinct vessel designs. The $1.10 stamp shows a super-maxi at the start of the 2016 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Australia’s top ocean race, with a photo by Andrea Francolini. The $1.10 Catamaran stamp depicts a Nacra 15 in competition at Moreton Bay during the 2018 Australian Sailing Youth Championships, with a photo by Beau Outteridge. The $2.20 stamp shows a 16-foot skiff plying the waters of Lake Macquarie, with a photo by Michael Chittenden. The stamps are available here.

CROATIA and KYRGYZSTAN (Joint Issue) – Protected Bird Species

Woodpecker stamps issued by Croatia and Kyrgyzstan as a joint issue feature the same birds on both issues, the red-headed, or middle-spotted, woodpecker and the white-winged woodpecker. The countries issued the stamps on November 22, and in a number of formats, including singles and souvenir sheets. The stamps have the same designs, with the exceptions of country name, color tint and denominations. The map at the top of the souvenir sheet from Kyrgyzstan indicates the geographic position of the two countries and the relative habitation of the woodpeckers. The red-headed woodpeckers have become extinct in many areas due to the harvesting of old-growth forests while the white-winged woodpecker is relatively numerous in Central Asia. The stamps are available from here or here.

GAMBIA – Year of the Tiger

A Lunar New Year sheetlet of four commemorating the Year of the Tiger was issued by The Gambia on February 1. The tiger, known as the Asian king of all beasts, symbolizes courage, power and enthusiasm. The images on the stamps represent tiger bell figurines, each of which has a unique design element. Available from here.

MACAU – Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

A souvenir sheet and a set of four stamps was issued on January 25, to commemorate the XXIV Olympic Winter Games scheduled to run from February 4 to 20 in Beijing. The souvenir sheet features a speedskater in a circular stamp with a skier and the Beijing Olympics logo on the left of the selvage. The set of four single stamps issued at the same time depict ice dancing, snowboarding,  ice hockey  and skiing.  As a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, Macau is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore cannot compete at the Olympics. The stamps are available online from here.

UNITED NATIONS – World Toilet Day

The United Nations proclaimed November 19 as World Toilet Day and commemorated the occasion with a set of three, with one stamp each from Geneva, New York City and Vienna. “Each stamp depicts one of the most important ways toilets, water and hygiene add value to our lives,” said the U.N. Postal Administration. The stamps were designed by United Kingdom-based Gail Armstrong and carry international denominations of U.S. cents, euros and Swiss francs.  The U.S.-denominated stamp depicts a toilet surrounded by food items to indicate that toilets help “prevent food crops from being contaminated and ensuring sustainable use of water in agriculture.” The €1,00 shows that affordable and reliable water and sanitation services “help to protect people from preventable diseases” while the objects on the Swiss-denominated stamp shows how toilets in a variety of places “particularly benefit women and girls …  especially during menstruation and pregnancy.” The stamps are available here. 

LIECHTENSTEIN – Chess Federation 50th Anniversary

Cartor Security Printing used gold hot-foil stamping, embossing and four-color offset to produce  a pair of stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of Liechtenstein’s chess federation. Issued November 15, the gummed stamps were designed by Sereina Hatt, of Vaduz, Liechtenstein, with the lower value featuring a knight playing piece and the higher value depicting a king, both with gold foil and high relief embossing on a chess board pattern background. The knight is indicative of the federation’s recently adopted and modernized logo. The stamps are available here.

MONACO – Movie Posters

Monaco on December 9 issued four stamps depicting the art of movie posters featuring four movies that either portray or were at least partially filmed in Monaco. Depicted are the French poster for the American-made auto racing drama “The Racers” (1955), starring Kirk Douglas; the Swedish poster for the German musical comedy “Bomloen auf Monte Carlo” (Monte Carlo Madness, 1931), directed by Hanns Schwarz; the English-language poster for “The Red Shoes,” a British production inspired by an Andersen fairy tale that Martin Scorsese and Brian de Palma, among others, have cited it as their favorite film; and the “La Baie des Anges” (Bay of Angels, 1963), a French film written and directed by Jacques Demy and starring Jeanne Moreau that tackles the grit of gambling and heartbreak of love, with the backdrop of Riviera casinos. The stamps are available here.

HUNGARY – Castles and Chateaux

Continuing a series begun in 2018, Maygar Posta on September 2 issued a souvenir sheet of eight depicting castles. The stamps are all denominated 200 forint, designed by Eszter Domé and printed by ANY Security Printing Plc. The castles shown are: Diósgyőr; Sümeg; Szádvár (Szögliget); Kisvárda; Sopron city wall and the related museum quarter; Mosonmagyaróvár; Somló; and Füzér. The background of the small arch is decorated with a pictorial montage of the exterior and interior parts and facades of the castles.” The colorful sheet is available from here.