COVER N.142 - FRANCE.

Postmark: 32014A-01 France 11.07.22 La Poste
Posted on the 11th July; received on the 15th July 2022

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Mais qu'est-ce qu'il se passe, Marianne?  Today is the 15th... YOU ARE LATE! 

La prise de la Bastille, July the 14th, 1789, a date that would,  in time - 1880 - become France's national holiday,  the consuetudinary beginning of the French Revolution which  would be forever synthesised in the trylogic Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité motto, embodied in a feminine figure wearing a Phrygian cap... Marianne.

Marianne's effigy has been present in France's definitive stamps since 1944, as far a I could understand after a bit if searching over the internet (an abridged history of  Mariane stamps until the 2008  emission can be found here ). I also learned that tradition has it that choosing the design for the Marianne emissions rests on the shoulders of the French President.

Emanuel Macron was thus responsible for choosing the design of the stamp on my cover, known as Marianne, l'Engagée  - Marianne the  Engaged. The original set, comprising 9 values, some of them in different versions - gummed, self-adhesive and even imperforated - was issued on 23JUL2018. Of note is the fact that two of the stamps included data matrix codes, which, I believe,  makes it possible to track and trace the objects on which they are applied.

The stamp on my cover, though, was issued on 02JAN2019, and while retaining the same colour and format of the "monde" denominated stamp of the original issue it now features the legend "International", a modification which I suspect is  probably due to tariff reconfiguration.

The cancellation was machine applied, and I could not find information on the place of issuance.