COVER N. 715 - BRITISH CROWN DEPENDENCIES - BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY - GUERNSEY

Postmark: Guernesey Post Post Office 06.05.2026

Posted on the 6th May;  Received on the 12th May 2026

_________________________________________________________________________________

The second cover I got on the same day from the Channel Islands, courtesy of Roland and another line to add to the list. Un grand merci, Roland!

This was not only my first ever cover from Guernsey, but also the first one stamped with the 2026 EUROPA common issue.

And as much as I don't have  anything against the celebration of 70 years of EUROPA/CEPT stamps or the artwork for the stamp per se, (which results from a design contest organised by PostEurop for its members and won by Finland)  I confess I find it extremely boring to have all postal organisations that participate in this well established philatelic tradition issuing similar, if not almost equal, stamps.

Yes, I know that a common design was used in the early CEPT issues, but even so, if you take a look at any given year of the CEPT issues, all the stamps had different colours in the background and such. It may also be argued that the same happens in many of this year's issues (Portugal, for instance) where the main artwork is complemented by other graphic elements. Still,  the fact is that the main artwork is so graphically striking and prominent in the stamp that, to me, all the rest fades from view, leaving but the square colourful artwork with the seven circles that mimic perforations to impact our retinas.

There is a precedent in the 2023 issue, but that was (and is) a special case. On that particular issue the common design is a statement of unity, of shared intent and hope, so having it affirmed by as many countries as possible only reinforces its message.

The idea, this year, even if truly worth of celebration and full of positive intentions and connections,  is a bit more limited in scope, in ... meta-significance, to use a probably non-existing word.

Anyway, this is of course only my personal opinion and as such absolutely debatable, but I really would prefer to see more diversity in design, as it is customary in the EUROPA issues.

The 1.54 Pound stamp, which constitutes Guernsey Post 2026 EUROPA issue, on the cover, was issued on 01APR2026.