COVER N. 262 - FRANCE

Postmark: 58 - Corbigny - Nièvre  08.06.2023

Posted on the 8th June; Received on the 13th June 2023

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My first EUROPA cover of the year (besides the one I sent to myself, that is). Thank you so much Jean-Pierre.

As much as a common theme for a stamp issue for all the 54 members of PostEurope  (they used to be 56, but Russia and Belarus memberships are for the moment suspended, due to obvious reasons), this year's choice is a strong political statement, and an implicit condemnation of Russia's outrageous aggression against one of its European neighbours.  

In fact, "Peace, The highest value of Humanity", a theme that PostEurope members  agreed on following a proposal from Ukrposhta,  is such a  self-explanatory slogan, that I don't feel anything more needs to be said regarding its significance .

The main motif in the stamps that is used in all issues, irrespective of country or territory of issuance, was chosen though a contest organised by PostEurope amongst its members. 

The winning proposal was presented by POST Luxembourg  and was authored by  Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir from "A Designer's Collective".

Quoting from PostEurope Press release:

"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.

A a personal note I should mention the fact that I do think La Poste did the right thing when issuing a single stamp and resisting the temptation to cash in this particular issue, quite unlike our own CTT who further to the usual stamps for mainland Portugal, Madeira and Azores, issued 3 souvenir sheets with single stamps with a face value that is practically unusable, but is almost three times the price of the common theme stamp....

The Postmark hails from Corbigny, a town of about 1600 inhabitants in the Nièvre department of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region.