POSTCARD N.158 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 5th August; received  0n the 19th August 2024

Postcard image: Galle Lighthouse
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Lighthouses... Who isn't fascinated by these amazingly photogenic buildings, most times located at places that, by themselves, are worthy of a photo, but which gain a whole new plastic dimension just for the presence of the erect tower of a lighthouse somewhere at one of the place's tips?

I love them, I have always did, ever since I visited my first lighthouse with my father in the Azores, Santa Maria Island - Farol de Gonçalo Velho - when I was a kid.

Ravindra is a great Lighthouse fan (and I'm sure an even greater fan than myself, for Lighthouses are is philatelic theme of choice) so it comes as no surprise that amidst the many postcards that he so generously keeps sending me, one dedicated to these incredible infrastructures should be included.

Ravindra tells me that this is the Galle Lighthouse, located at the tip of the Galle peninsula inside the Galle fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also another remnant of the Portuguese presence in Sri Lanka, since the original fort was built by them (well... us) in 1588.

The lighthouse itself was built by the British in 1939, and is 26.5 metres tall.

All the Galle site was badly hit by the horrendous Tsunami of  2004, and even though  the harm done by the flooding was huge, it would have been worse were it not for the fortified walls which somewhat shielded the buildings inside from direct hits by the waters.

I read that Sri Lanka has now managed to fully restore the site to its former condition, what is really something to be happy about, knowing how hard the country was hit by the catastrophe.

Three circular stamps were used to mail the postcard. left to right:

- Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka and I expect its heroes to be worshiped are like soccer players around here. One of the great names in the sport is Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (1972 -) who is credit as being the  highest wicket taker in test cricket. (I, of course, had to look this up, since cricket is completely outside my sphere of reference).

Muttiah Muralitharan was honoured with the 5 Rupee circular stamp on the postcard, issued on 03DEC2007.

- Volleyball was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1916 by R. W. Camack, the Director of Physical Education at the Colombo Y.M.C.A., at the time.

Nowadays and since 1955,  all matters Volleyball in the country are managed by the  Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, and the sport rose so much in popularity that it has been declared by the Government as Sri Lanka's national sport, although, as mentioned above, the most played sport in the country is probably Cricket. 

Celebrating the 100 years of Volleyball in the country, Sri Lanka Post issued on 07DEC2026 the 10 rupee circular stamp used on the postcard, illustrated with the image of a player getting ready to hit the ball.

- On 15JUN2023, Sri Lanka Post issued a mini-sheet containing 20 x 50 Rupee circular stamps, dedicated to fruits and vegetables of Sri Lanka.

The stamp on the postcard is illustrated with an image of a Dialium ovoideum (Velvet Tamarind) plant, which is endemic to Sri Lanka and cultivated for its edible fruit.

The Postmark again hails from Colombo and is dated of  the 5th August.

POSTCARD N.157 - MALAYSIA

Postcard sent on the 4th July; received  0n the 19th August 2024

Postcard image: St. paulk's Church on St. Paul's Hill, Malacca city
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Ravindra keeps enticing me with great postcards with images which bear a relation to my Portuguese heritage. This time not from his own Sri Lanka, but from Malaysia, and the city of Malacca: the oldest European building east of India, the church of Saint Paul, first built in 1521 as a small chapel, under the orders of Duarte Coelho, who named it Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (Our lady of the Annunciation) as a token of gratitude for his having been saved from a storm in the South China Sea.

The Chapel was later donated to the Society of Jesus represented by St. Francis Xavier, who had been sent by the Portuguese King D. João III on an evangelisation mission to the Eastern territories where the  Portuguese  had been present 

The chapel  was enlarged and a belfry added to it in 1590, its designation changing to Igreja da Madre de Deus (Church of God's Mother).

The name by which it is now known, Saint Paul's Church, was given by the Dutch, who, after expelling the Portuguese from Malacca, reconsecrated the Church to St. Paul.

The British, who occupied Malacca from 1826, used the church as a powder magazine, and over time it was left to deteriorate to its present state.

Ravindra used a 100 ringgit stamp part of a 4 x 100 Ringgit se-tenant strip joint issue with Singapore, issued in celebration of the centenary of the Causeway between Johore and Singapore.

The four stamps, issued on 28JUN2024, are illustrated with paintings of views of the causeway in 1930 and in 2020, as seen from the Malaysian and Singaporan sides of the infrastructure.

The stamp on the postcard reflects the view of the causeway from Singapore in 2020. 

The Postmark reads Pusat Mel Nasional (Pos Malaysia National Mail Centre) Malaysia, which is located in the city of Sha Alam, State of Selangor.
 

COVER N. 499 - FRANCE- DROM-COM - TAAF - TERRES AUSTRALES ET ANTARCTIQUES FRANÇAISES

Postmark: Ille Europa - Illes Eparses 01.07.2024

Posted on the 1st July; Received on the 16th August 2024

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I love to receive mail from France's Overseas Territories, because the stamps are usually nothing short of works of art. The more so when the covers originate at the Southern and  Antarctic Lands, since further to the lovely stamp(s) the envelopes are always embellished with nice cachet, thus making each cover a rather unique item in the collection.

Un grand merci, Roland, pour ce très beau pli.

Ships, ancient or modern, are a common theme on France's TAFF Stamps. Not a surprising statement given that sea fairing vessels have always played a vital role in the relation of France with the very scarcely inhabited territories (a few tens of scientists at most, I believe), be it at the time of their discovery, or today as the main vehicle for supplying the scientific bases with goods and personnel.

Corvette La Dauphine, was  a 3 mast (like all corvettes are, if you do not consider those produced by Chevrolet... 😀) 4 gun corvette built in 1773.

La Dauphine was part of the fleet captained by  Yves de Kerguelen-Trémarec ( the discoverer, in 1772, of the islands that would be named after him as the Kerguelen islands), on his second expedition in search of the Terra Australis, in 1773. It was during this same mission that Kerguelen-Trémarec discovered the Illes Nuageuses, a group of islands also part of the Kerguelen Archipelago. 

But not only glory is  written down on La Deauphine Currriculum, since in 1774, Kerguelen-Trémarec order it to go to Madagascar, to be involved in  the slave trade.

In 1976, though, la Deauphine would be instrumental in the rescue operation of a group of slaves that had been left stranded on Tromelin Island by the crew of the ship that had transported them and which was wrecked. Of the 160 abandoned people, only 7 women and a 6 month child were alive to be  saved by the crew of la Deauphine.

On 02JAN2024, la Poste issued the very nice 1,65 € stamp with and engraving of La Deauphine, as she sailed the Indian ocean waters to rescue the stranded slaves at Tromelin Island, who can be seen waiving frantically from the shoreline to the crew on board the ship.

The Postmark was applied at Europe island, one of the "Scattered Islands", and further to the coordinates of the place where the postmark was applied, the cover also carries the cachet of the Postmaster of Europa.

 COVER N. 498 - Sri Lanka

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 24.07.2024

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 14th August 2024

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Ravindra's torrent of mail keeps flowing into my letterbox as if  a "letterfall" is feeding it 😃. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

This time I got a  cover with three more stamps from the nice waterfalls of Sri Lanka mini-sheet. 

Ravindra has been sending so much letters and postcards with beautiful images of his country that Sri Lanka is now highly placed on my "one day" list. Sadly we will have to wait a bit longer in order to be able to travel during the best visiting period so that we can accommodate the dates into the work schedule of my wife, but the objective is set!

As mentioned above, the three stamps on the cover are part of a set issued as a 10 x 50 rupee mini-sheet, dating of 02FEB0224, themed on Sri Lankan waterfalls.

three stamps from the set were already mentioned in this blog, two in the post for cover #439, and one in the post for Postcard #155.

From left to right we now have:

- Surathali Ella Waterfall 

With a drop of 60 meters, Surathaçi Waterfall is located in the Ratnapura District and is originated by the waters of River Kadawath, collected at the Sri Pada Reserve’s Ellamana mountain range.

- Hatmale Ella Waterfall 

Hatmale Ella waterfall comprises seven segments ("Hatmala", hence the name.,.) totalling an height of  45 metres and a width of 10 meters. The fall is generated by water descending from the  Deniyaya Gongala mountain range and is located some 7 km out of Deniyaya town.

-  Gerandi Ella Waterfall

Located close to Gerandi Ella village, in the Passara Provincial Secretariat, the fall comprises several steps that lead the water into the Lokkgal Oya River, down below.

All in all, three very nice stamps from a theme that is quite dear to me, since I cannot go past a place with a waterfall without visiting it... 

As usual, the postmark hails from Colombo's central P.O.

COVER N. 497 - RUSSIA

Postmark: Illegible

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 14th August 2024

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Another of Julia's interesting covers. I really appreciate the care Julia puts in all of her  postcard sendings, always dispatched inside a very nice envelope which itself tells a story about something or someone, as it is the case, embellished with some nice stamps.  большое спасибо, Юлия.

This time, the pre-paid Tarif "A" envelope, included in the series “Benefactors of Russia”   is dedicated to earl Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713–1788), who Wikipedia informs was the second most rich man in Russia of his time, the first, of course, being Tzar Peter the Great.

The first elected Marshal of the Nobility for the Moscow Province, a top hierarchical function in the corporative administration of nobility and its interaction with the crown, which  he assumed in 1780, Pyotr Sherementev  would also become famous as a patron and collector of art. 

Being very fond of dramatic art,  he founded his own serf theatre  and serf orchestra, which would undoubtedely enlighten the receptions at the lavish estate of his family in Kuskovo, close to Moscow.

The grotto Pavilion, one of several existing in the estate,is also shown as an illustration in the envelope.

If Sheremetev was a theatre lover, Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold was an actor, director and producer and a spirit free enough to have become a victim of Stalin's infamous purges, having been shot in 1940, accused of spying for the British and the Japanese...

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth, Russian Post issued, on 26JAN2024, the 50 ruble stamp on the cover, illustrated with his portrait over the subdued image of a stage with actors performing.

The Hero of the Soviet Union Title and decoration, which was awarded in conjunction with the order of Lenin, was the highest distinction that  the Soviet Union bestowed upon its citizens or organizations during its existence as a state until its desegregation  in 1991. It was  last awarded in December of that same year to  a diver of the Soviet Armed Forces, Captain Leonid Mikhailovich Solodkov, for his participation in several extreme depth diving experiments.

On the ocasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the title and decoration,  the 9 ruble stamp featuring the golden star with a red ribbon decoration over a blue background was issued, on 29OCT2009.

As usual, Julia enclosed a very interesting postcard in the envelope, dedicated to the 165 years of the Russian stamp.

Central to the image is the imperforated 10 kopek stamp issued in 1857 as the first stamp of was then the Russian Empire, with several other Russian stamps orbiting alongside it. On the background there's a passageway linking two buildings with a sign, which I presume should translate as Post Office?

The postcard which has a printing run of 350 has a QR code on its back that supposedly takes you to a video, but unfortunately my cell phone is not compatible with it.

Thanks again, Julia for such a great postcard.

Although the postmark is illegible, I suspect that the letter was mailed from Kaluga, as usual with Julia's sendings.

POSTCARD N.156 - INDONESIA

Postcard sent on the 22th July; received in (?) August 2024

Postcard image: dancers in Sulawesi Island
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Another member of the "Thank You Mr. Postman Frequent Contributor Programme" is my friend up north. This time the Flying Dutchman chose to pamper me with a great vintage postcard form Indonesia, from the Island of  Sulawesi, one of the Greater Sunda Islands, a place which I read is also famous for being a great location for diving and reef observing.

I also read that the first Europeans to set foot on Sulawesi, were the Portuguese in 1523. They (or better, we  :-)) would maintain a presence in Celebes, as it was known by them  until 1665, until the Dutch took possession of the Island....

Who would have thought by then that one day, a Dutch would send a Portuguese a postcard with an image of the some beautiful dancers on that same island, now part of another sovereign state....?

Six 1500 stamps were used to mail the Postcard to Portugal. 

- Each year, Ari Guru - National Teacher's Day - is celebrated throughout Indonesia on the 25th November.

On 25NOV2004, Pos Indonesia issued a se-tenant pair of 1500 Rupiah stamps dedicated to this celebration, both stamps being illustrated with iconic images of teachers with their students.

- The Presidential election of 2004 took Place on the 5th July and the 20th September, electing general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a first term which ended in 2009 (he would be re-elected for a second term after that, which ran until 2014).

As part of an awareness campaign for the elections, Pos Indonesia, on 05APR2004,  issued the se-tenant two stamp set used on the postcard, featuring a man and a woman calling on the attention of people to participate in the election, on one stamp,  and actually voting themselves, on the other. The legend Milih Langsung, present on both stamps., translates into "Direct Vote",  according to Deepl.

- A 4 x 1500 Rupiah stamp set plus 1 x 5000 Rupiah stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to Tourism was issued by Pos Indonesia on 27SEP2003.

Two of the stamps can be seen on the postcard:

The top one is dedicated to the Muang Jong ritual performed by members of the Sawang or Sekak Tribes during which miniatures of boats are offered to the ocean as a means to ask for protection and safety for anyone living off the sea.

The one on the bottom is dedicated to the Seba Baduy, an occasion when a community that actually lives all year long in seclusion,  closed to outsiders, in the Banten province, west of Jakarta, comes out of  seclusion to  do a 115 km pilgrimage until the city of Serang.

The Postmark indicates that the postcard was posted at Bogor Selatan (South Bogor) in the west of the Island of java.

POSTCARD N.155 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 24th July; received in (?) August 2024

Postcard image: Kirigalpoththa Mountain
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Another of Ravindra's great sendings. This time a postcard issued by the Philatelic Bureau of Sri Lanka Post with an image of the second highest mountain in the country as can be read in the legend that accopmanies the photograph in the card. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

Ravindra used one 50 Rupee stamp of the 10 x 50 Rupee minisheet, dating of 02FEB0224, themed on Sri Lankan waterfalls, of which 2 stamps were already mentioned a propos cover #439.

The waterfall highlighted on this stamp is Lanka Ella Waterfall, a 32 m high fall, located in the Kalupahana area in the Badulla District of the Uva Province. It can only be accessed by foot, what contributes to its still very pristine condition. 

The two 15 Rupee stamps with precious stones, an aquamarine, the blue gem form of Beryl  and two zircon gems, an yellow and a green, zircon colours ranging from colourless to golden yellow, brown, red, blue or green, are part of a 10 x 15 rupee mini-sheet, dedicated to gems of Sri Lanka, issued on 06NOV2021.

As usual, the postmark on the stamps was applied at Sri Lanka Post Headquarters, in Colombo.

COVER N. 496 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 15.08.2024

Posted on the 15th August; Received in (?) August 2024

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Amongst the mail I had waiting for me in my letterbox upon arrival from my days out of "office" were two (soon to be three) sendings from Ravindra. He's got a Thank you Mr. Postman Frequent Contributor Card full of "miles". Bohomȧ  sthoothi, again, Ravi!

Here's the first:

Yearly, Sri Lanka Post issues a commemorative stamp set on the occasion of  Vesak, the most important Buddhist holiday, celebrating the birth, enlightenment (Nibbāna), and passing (Parinirvāna) of  Buddha, which in Sri Lanka is a very important celebration, given that 70% of the population profess this creed. 

The souvenir-sheet for this year's set, issued on 21MAY2024, comprised three 50 Rupee stamps, against a background of  lotus (?) flowers.

I would greatly appreciate help from Ravindra to confirm or infirm what I'm saying (You there Ravi?), but I  believe that each stamp features reproductions of paintings from Buddhist temples. Left to right we have:

- Ambilla Raja Maha Viharaya Procession, from the Kalalpitiya Purana Viahraya temple paintings;

- Makulathenna Raja Maha Viharaya Procession, from the Makulethenna Raja Maha Viharaya temple paintings;

- Kalapittya Purana Viharaya Procession, from the Ambilla Raja Maha Viharaya temple paintings.

I would also  speculate that all this paintings are related to the proceedings of the Vesak celebrations, but, this is pure guesswork from me.

As usual, the postmark hails from the city of Colombo. Sri Lanka's largest city. 

COVER N. 495 - CZECH REPUBLIC

Postmark: Joachim Barrande . 225. Výroči Narození Jince 08.08.2024

Posted on the 8th July; Received in (?) August 2024

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Joachim Barrande.... Once again stamps and postmarks make me learn something, and that can only be good. Děkuju mockrát, Ivan, for a  very fine cover.

Joachim Barrande (1799 - 1883) was a French engineer who ended up becoming a well respected palaeontologist, and this because he, at one point in his long life, became the tutor of the grandson of France's sovereign, Charles X.

When Charles X abdicated in 1830, Joachim in his capacity of tutor of Henri d'Artois, accompanied the former king in exile, first in England then in Scotland and finally in Prague.

There, working as an engineer, he developed an interest for fossils of the Palaeozoic, found in the rocks of Bohemia, during the  construction works for a railroad.

Over the years he would amass an immense collection of fossils and during his life time he would publish 21 volumes of text and plates of his fundamental work "Système silurien du centre de la Bohême", dedicated to trilobites of several species.

Barrande, a critic of Darwin's evolutionism theory, died in Austria, but conform to his testament, his extensive collection of fossils was donated to Prague, where they are now kept at the National Museum.

Celebrating the 225th anniversary of his birth, Czech Post issued the commemorative postmark illustrated with his effigy, which can be seen on the cover.

The 20 Koruna stamp featuring a family of Orix (Orix gazella gazella)  and another of Lions (Panthera leo leo) is part of a mini-sheet issued on 07SEP2006, dedicated to "Zoos of the Czech Republic"   containing four stamps (16,20,24 and 27 Koruna) and two vignettes, all lavishly illustrated with great images of animals, as is also the frame of the sheet, whose section on the cover includes a Black-tip reef shark (Charcaminus melanopterus), a King vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) and a Ring-tailed lemur (lemur catta).

Over the years Czech Post has issued several of these very beautiful mini-sheets dedicated to fauna and flora and they are all a pleasure to behold.

In 2020 and 2021, Czech Post issued two definitive sets of two stamps each featuring butterflies. The 2021 set (23 and 1 Koruna) was used on the cover,  the stamps being illustrated  with an image of an Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines), a member of the Pieridae family which can be found all over Europe (1 Kč), an of a  Peacock  butterfly (Aglais io), also a common European sight, for the 23 Kč stamp.

COVER N. 494 - FRANCE

Postmark: Musée de La Poste Paris 08.07.2024

Posted on the 8th July; Received in (?) August 2024

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On the 24th November, this year, Lucy will be 50 years old... plus some 3.2 million years, for that is the estimate age of the fossilised hominine skeleton (or,  rather, 40% of it) that Prof. Donald Johanson and his student Tom Gray discovered at Hadar, in Ethiopia.

This finding filled an important gap in the materialisation of evidence of the transition to bipedalism which led to the emergence of Man, as we now know it.

The discovery of such a large quantity of remnants from a single hominine - an Australopitecus afarensis, to be more precise -  skeleton that old was such an extraordinary occasion that the team involved in the unearthing of it had an all night long party on the night of the first day of excavation.

All through the long and lively night, the famed Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamons" was played several times, what lead to someone having the  idea of naming the skeleton after the hero of the song. (This of course goes to prove that Palaeontologists are people of good taste....)

At the time of the finding, Lucy was the oldest hominine fossil ever found, but since then others have been discovered, with particular relevance to the case of Lucy's cousin Ardi, who at 4.4 million years old is the holdera of the record for the oldest hominine skeleton in existence.

Lucy was taken to the United States to be "recomposed" as best as possible and she is now kept at the National Museum of Ethiopia, at Addis Ababa.

Un grand merci Roland, for this very fine cover, obliterated with a postmark from the Musée de la Poste, in Paris.

The 50 years of the discovery of Lucy are the subject of the 1,96 € stamp, issued on 24JUN2024, illustrated with a rendition of what Lucy would supposedly look like.

The stamp is cancelled with a postmark from the Musée de la Poste, in Paris, an institution whose origins can be traced back to the Musée Postale de France, founded in 1946, thanks to the perseverance of Eugène Vaillé, a librarian with the French Postal Administration of the time.

COVER N. 493 - HUNGARY

Postmark: Balatonalmádi N 30.07.2024

Posted on the 30th July; Received in (?) August 2024

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Great athletic feats are usually remembered for quite a long time, or at least untill another super athlete supersedes the previous record in whatever discipline they are competing. Those who achieve them will forever be remebered and many times honoured in several different ways, their image on a stamp being one of them.

But athletic feats are not exclusive to Man, for even if usually animals are coached into performing according to the rules Man sets for them to compete against their peers, sometimes the star is the animal itself, not the man or woman behind it. And I can't remember a more clear example of this than  horseracing. 

Famous Horses have their legions of fans and many a winner on the racetrack have had its figure crystallised forever in a honouring statue.

Being a total stranger to the world of horseracing I can speculate that the fact that races are intrinsically linked to betting has a lot to do with this. In fact, it is probably the income generating potential of a horse that gives it fame more than its athletic ability to perform, for I don't think that the bleachers on the tracks would have had that many spectators if money was not involved. But, as I said, I know nothing of it, so this is pure speculation.

What I do know is that the best are usually and rightfully honoured by their countries. and  just as great human athletes deserve recognition so do our non human counterparts.

Thank you Hóka, for this great cover honouring what I read is a legend racehorse - Kincsem (My Precious), a Hungarian thoroughbred which, in the course of its short life, between 1874 and 1887, ascended to  still unparalleled fame, by winning all the 54 races in which she participated.

It seems that Kincsem ancestry, like that of all thoroughbreds, can be traced back to England, where the breed was created by crossing native mares with Arabian, Barb and Turkoman stallions.  Kincsem itself was sired by another famous horse who was originally owned by Queen Victoria's - Cambuscan - before being sold to Magyar owners. 

I find the 845 forint, issued on 03MAY2024, illustrated with a painting of  Kincsem and its rider, overlooking the track in the company of a cat, which also seems to be captivated by the horse's elegance, very beautiful. There is a certain element of classicism in this painting which takes me to an imaginary gallery with other paintings of famous racehorses that I find most appealing. In the background of the upper third of the painting, the names of famous racetracks where the thoroughbred won, highlight her racing pedigree, all done in class and good taste. 

The cover uses the official first day envelope, which bears an image of Kincsem and her Jockey leading a race to one of her multiple wins, I presume.

Also on the front of the cover is a stamp issued on 06MAY1999 as part of a set dedicated to fauna of Asia. The 79 forint stamp showcases a Bornean  orangutang (Pongo Pygmaeus) a species endemic to Borneo, that in spite of being one of the closest relatives of Man, is critically endangered, due to loss of habitat generated by deforestation brought about by the installation of palm oil plantations.

Postage on the cover was completed with two definitive stamps from a series issued on two occasions in 2000, dedicated to "Antique furniture", chairs in particular.

The 2 forint stamp is part of the first issue, dated of 30JUN2000, while the 4 forint stamp began to circulate on  09OCT2000.

The Postmark hails from Balatonalmádi, a resort town on the northern shore of lake Balaton, with a population of  8,500.

POSTCARD N.154 - GERMANY

Postcard sent on the 19th July; received on the 29th July 2024

Postcard image: Nationaler Love and be happy Day - Cologne Pride 2024
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Pride. The self-affirmation of one's nature. Take me as I am, just as I take you as you are, nothing could be simpler!

It all boils down to human and civil rights. And we all know that human rights, something that should be considered an axiom, part of our heritage from the moment we are born, a commandment, are many times only attained and acknowledged through hard fought battles, with their heroes, villains, symbols, pains, sufferance, successes, failures, for this is how humanity progresses, slowly unfolding its petals, like a flower.

Some of us, the lucky ones, have come a long way in the right direction in the last few decades. Particularly those who benefit from that "worst form of government, except for all the others", as Churchill once put it. Not so in places plagued by dictatorial regimes, who all tend to format people according to a self-constructed moral and  costumes code that be(ne)fits the ruler and his/her entourage, most times hiding beneath a blanket of "do as I say, not as I do".

Recognising that our differences are part of our signature as a species has not been an easy task, but step by step we're getting there, although, as good subjects of physics that we are, our actions will always entail reaction, and even if society as a whole is getting more and more open and respectful of  variance, the numbers of those who would rather spend their free time indulging in such strange hobbies as burning books or hating people for race, colour, national origin, sex, religion or age reasons is also gaining a regretful momentum.

Anyway, all this about a card I received from The Phantom, just before my holidays, sent directly from Cologne's Pride 2024, whose street festival took place from the 19th till the 21st July. Danke sehr, Alex!

"Today is the National Love and be happy day. 

(Nothing official, I just invented it, let them know...)"

Pride events have grown to become truly inclusive festivals in lots of cities around the world. Far from the few participants in the first gay rights demonstrations of the seventies we now have festivals that number hundreds of thousand, if not millions of attendees (Cologne Pride 2023 had  1.2 million people participating).

And large companies never sleep, when there are large numbers of people involved. DHL partnered with Deutsche Post for the 2004 event and on its first day, 19JUL2024, a set of three stamps (all equal, with three different denominations (0.70; 0.85 and 0.95 €) was issued, the stamps being illustrated with the New Progress Pride Flag.

I confess I was confused by the flag, because I was used to the rainbow flag, so I had to look it up and here's the explanation I found on Volvo's website (I told you, large companies never sleep....)

"New Progress Pride Flag

Given the evolving nature of the LGBTQ+ community and society at large, the Progress Pride Flag integrates many of these flags into one. Thankfully, it has been redesigned to place a greater emphasis on “inclusion and progression.” Our community is such a huge umbrella of different kind of people and that is what makes us so special, that is what makes us so unique and that is what makes us so powerful.

The modern pride flag now includes stripes to represent the experiences of people of color, as well as stripes to represent people who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming (GNC) and/or undefined.

Daniel Quasar’s flag includes the colors of the trans flag, as well as black and brown stripes harkening back to 2017 Philadelphia Pride Flag, which sought to further represent the queer and trans identities of black and brown people. Those two stripes also represent those living with HIV/AIDS, people who have passed from the virus and the overall stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS that remains today.

In 2021, the Progress Pride Flag was revised by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK to incorporate the intersex flag. In the new design, the chevron of the Progress Flag includes a yellow triangle with a purple circle in the middle."

Source: https://www.volvogroup.com/en/news-and-media/news/2021/jun/lgbtq-pride-flags-and-what-they-stand-for.html

The first day Postmark, applied in Cologne, is illustrated with the logos of Deutsche Post and DHL.