My National Covers

Every now and then I have the opportunity to add what I call a "National Cover" to my collection.

These are nothing fancy. In fact they are but covers that I print  at home with the flag and coat of arms of a specific country and which I then either send to a fellow collector who is willing to help or give to friends or family or take my own self whenever travelling abroad, in the hope that these might find a way to a local post office to get a stamp and a postmark.

I will be adding these to a new "My National Covers" section in this blog.

If you don't see your country here and are willing to help me add your own country's national cover to my collection, please email me at pnsoares1@gmail.com. 

You'll get a cover from Portugal (if you want I'll be happy to print a Portuguese National Cover just like the ones I print for myself, although in a somewhat larger envelope) and a printed envelope with the relevant symbols printed, so that you can then return it to me.

Thanks a lot.

Note: Whenever possible I will try to transcribe the flag and coat of arms information from the relevant national site. Failing that I'll transcribe from Wikipedia.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Republic of Finland / Suomen tasavalta 

The Flag

The Finnish parliament debated the flag issue in spring 1918, and on 28 May approved the proposal of its constitutional committee for a new national symbol. The act, making the design of Eero Snellman and Bruno Tuukkanen the official Finnish flag was issued two days later, and even though some of its provisions have been amended slightly since then, the design itself, a blue cross on a white field, remains unchanged.

Source: History of the flag - Ministry of the Interior

Blue is said to represent the country's thousands of lakes and the sky and white the snow that covers the land in winter.

Source: Flag of Finland - Wikipedia

The Coat of Arms

The Act on the Coat of Arms of Finland (381/1978) describes the emblem as follows:

"A crowned lion rampant on a red field holding a raised sword in an armoured hand replacing the animal's right front leg, and trampling a sabre with its hind legs; the lion, the crown, the hilts and the joints of the armour being in gold, and the blades of the weapons and the armour itself being of silver; nine silver rosettes being scattered in the field."

Source: Coat of arms of Finland - Ministry of the Interior

The Stamps

- Martti Ahtisaari (1937-2023) was the tenth President of Finland, a position he occupied  between March 1994  and March 2000.

He was also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a distinction bestowed on him for  "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".

The stamp with no indication of face value, illustrated with his effigy, and the legend "In Memoriam  Martti Ahtisaari  1937 - 2000", was isssued on 15DEC2023

- Sauli Niinistö (1948) was the 12th President of Finland, is office tenure occuring between  March 2012 and  March 2024.

The  "First Class" no face value, stamp illustrated with his portrait and the legend "65 (in roman numerals) Sauli Niinistö" was issued on the eve of his 65th birthday, 23AUG2013. 

The Postmark

Applied in Lempäälä, on 08OCT2024, a city of approximately 25000 inhabitants in the south of the country Capital, part of the Pirkanmaa Region. 

My thanks to Esko for his help, care and attention in my obtaining this wonderful cover.

 My National Covers

Every now and then I have the opportunity to add what I call a "National Cover" to my collection.

These are nothing fancy. In fact they are but covers that I print  at home with the flag and coat of arms of a specific country and which I then either send to a fellow collector who is willing to help or give to friends or family or take my own self whenever travelling abroad, in the hope that these might find a way to a local post office to get a stamp and a postmark.

I will be adding these to a new "My National Covers" section in this blog.

If you don't see your country here and are willing to help me add your own country's national cover to my collection, please email me at pnsoares1@gmail.com. 

You'll get a cover from Portugal (if you want I'll be happy to print a Portuguese National Cover just like the ones I print for myself, although in a somewhat larger envelope) and a printed envelope with the relevant symbols printed, so that you can then return it to me.

Thanks a lot.

Note: Whenever possible I will try to transcribe the flag and coat of arms information from the relevant national site. Failing that I'll transcribe from Wikipedia.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Republic of Slovenia / Republika Slovenija

The Flag

The national flag became established as a symbol of Slovenian identity back in the 19th century. The Slovenians determined the colours (white, blue and red) based on those featured in the coat of arms of the province of Carniola, and submitted them for the approval of the then ruling Austrian administration in Vienna, where the colours were accepted. The first national flag was hung by Slovenian students in Vienna in March 1848 during a period of revolutionary tumult.

In Ljubljana, the flag was first raised on the building of the Zlata riba inn at Wolfova ulica 8 on 7 April 1848 by the patriotic student Lovro Toman and his like-minded colleagues.

With the appearance of the Slovenian tricolour flag, he was responding to the display of the German flag on the tower of Ljubljana Castle. In memory of this act we commemorate 7 April as the day of the Slovenian flag.

The national flag was finally formalised on 24 June 1991 by the Slovenian National Assembly. Immediately before Slovenia gained independence, the new Slovenian national flag replaced the old flag of the Republic.

The Coat of Arms

Slovenia lies at the crossroads of the Alpine, Mediterranean, Pannonian and Dinaric regions. The diversity in such a small area is also reflected in the symbolism of the Slovenian coat-of-arms.

The coat-of-arms of Slovenia has the form of a shield. The centre of the shield depicts Mount Triglav, as a white emblem on a blue background, with two wavy lines below it symbolising the sea and rivers, and three six-point stars arranged above it in the shape of a point-down triangle. The shield has a red border on the left and right sides, so that it has all three colours which also make up the flag. The lower part of the coat-of-arms symbolises the Slovenian landscape, which encompasses Alpine peaks in the northwest, the Primorska region in the south and the Pannonian Plain in the east.

Source: Symbols of Slovenia | GOV.SI

The Stamp

2,06 €, issued on 09MAY2025,  illustrated with a photograph of a  Centaur Archer Brooch,  part of the EUROPA/CEPT 2025 common issue, themed on National Archaeological Discoveries.

Round brooches made of plated bronze over an iron core are relatively common finds in Slav cemeteries from the eighth and ninth centuries in Slovenia’s Gorenjska region. Notable among them, for the quality of workmanship and, above all, for the depiction of a centaur archer, is this brooch from the Brda cemetery near Bled.

In stylistic terms it belongs to Carolingian art, which drew on illuminated manuscripts. Most comparable artefacts are from sites in the Upper Danube basin and the Rhineland. The figure of the centaur archer developed in Babylonian art before 1000 BC as a symbol of the zodiac sign Sagittarius. It entered Roman and medieval astrological depictions of Sagittarius via Egypt and was later adopted in Christianity.

We will probably never know exactly how this brooch ended up in a Slav grave in the Brda cemetery near Bled. It may have been made by a Christian who based the design on an illustration from an illuminated manuscript. On the other hand, the Slavs, who were pagans when they settled this area in the sixth century and whose Christianisation under the Carolingians had only just begun in the eighth century, probably did not see this design as a Christian symbol but as a pagan one. The centaur archer may have reminded them of Perun the Thunderer, the supreme god of the Slavs, who could also be depicted as a horseman with a thunderbolt or bow in his hand.

Source: Dežela znamk - EUROPA - Centaur archer

The Postmark

Applied in Slovenia's Capital, Lubljana, on 05JUN.2025.

COVER N. 593 - USA

Postmark: Powwows First Day of Issue, Celebrating Native American Culture, Albuquerque, NM 87101 25.04.2025

Posted on the 25th April; Received on the 5thJune 2025

_________________________________________________________________________________

A very beautiful issue on a very beautiful Cover. Thank you so much A. W.!

Also thank you for all the interesting gifts inside the cover, and for reminding me of the place we transitionally occupy on this Earth, with that beautiful Native America proverb, which I can't resist replicating here:

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

As far as my distant understanding of such a rich cultural moment can be trusted, a  Powwow is an event organised by Native American communities to celebrate their rich heritage and traditions, through singing and dancing.

Honouring this unique tradition, USPS issued on 25APR2025 a set of four “Forever” stamps, illustrated with performing Native American dancers in traditional attire.

The images were based in photographs taken by the designer of the stamps,  native Cochiti Pueblo Artist Mateo Romero, which he then highlighted with brush strokes of bright, luminous colours.

The legends on each stamp  shed light as to the performance illustrated, and so we have from left to right: 

The  Crow Hop

A dance performed by men or women which replicates the movements of a crow, with short side to side hops.

Women's Traditional Dance

This dance celebrating women and their importance in the community, is characterised by the fact that the feet of the dancers never totally leave the ground, what symbolises the connection of women with  Mother Earth.

Women’s Fancy Shaw

A rather energetic dance with elaborate footwork and athletic movement and spinning.

Men’s hoop dance

A dance performed by a solo dancer with hoops, each representing elements of the relation of Man with Mother Earth.

The First Day postmark as well as the regular postmarks were issued in Albuquerque, the most populous city of the State of New Mexico  and also the site of the Gathering of Nations,  the largest annual Powwow that takes place in the United States of America. 

COVER N. 592 - FRANCE - SAINT PIERRE ET MIQUELON

Postmark: 975 - St. Pierre et Miquelon 20.05.2025

Posted on the 20th May; Received on the 26th June 2025

_________________________________________________________________________________

It is always a pleasure to receive a cover from the small insular enclave encroached in  Canada's vast expanses of land and sea, where baguette and croissant are the proud norm. The more so since almost without exception, the stamps  are always rather beautiful and interesting.

Such is the case with this nice cover I got from Roman,  Dziękuję bardzo, Roman! 

- Tranchage de la Morue, (Fileting cod) reads the caption of the 0,85€ stamp issued on 22MAY2027, illustrated with a photograph of two fishermen preparing cod to be later salted and dried, I presume.

As a side note, this is something that I, as a Portuguese, can immediately relate to, since we are the number 1 consumers of dried cod in the world; so much so that the once humble (and far from that nowadays) main staple of fishermen and other working class families made its way up to our Christmas supper, wherein it has to take centre stage or else it simply won't be Christmas... 

The industrial remains of some "secas do bacalhau" (cod drying facilities) can still be found around here  (in fact I have one not more than a 10 minute drive from where I live), as a reminder of the days when the white luggers of the Portuguese cod fishing fleet would spend months in the treasonous waters of Newfoundland (same as the fishermen of Saint Pierre and Miquelon) and Greenland, until their holds would be filled with salted cod, that would then be sun dried in the drying facilities I mentioned above.

For a number of years Portuguese fishing vessels were barred from fishing in Newfoundland, and most of our cod is imported from Norway  these days, but  the ban was lifted this year, I've read, so who knows if there might be some Newfoundland cod on my table this coming Christmas...?

- Russulas have always caught my eye, ever since I started looking at mushrooms with a more inquisitory and photographic eye, on my walks in the woods nearby.

Although there are many colours for their caps, red, deep red and  very dark red, are quite common on members of these genus and you just can't avoid looking at them, since they so often contrast with the general appearance of the soil from where they pop up.

  

Since 2018, St. Pierre and Miquelon has been issuing an annual stamp illustrated with a local mushroom. 

The Russula peckii was the species chosen for the 2021 issue, with a face value of 1,28€, which began to circulate on 12JAN2021, and which can be seen on the cover.

and here's a Russula from my woods....

COVER N. 590 - ALGERIA

Postmark:  Annaba 13.05.2025

Posted on the  13h May; Received on the 27th May 2025

_________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to a bit of good string pulling by my friend the Ghost Who Walks, I opened my letterbox to find this beautiful cover sent from Algeria. Thanks a lot, Alex and let me also extend my thanks to Khaled, for a great cover to my collection. 

The Algerian War of Independence,  lasted from 1954 to 1962, the year when France finally decided there was no point in going against the tide of history and Algeria obtained its independence following negotiations that De Gaulle had started with the FNL, the Algerian National Liberation Front, in 1960.

During its course, the terrible Algerian war caused a number of Algerian causlaties that is estimated to be in between 400,000 and 1,500,000 (depending on whose numbers you give more credit, the French, or the Algerian) as well as 25,600 French Soldiers.

Its effects, though, transcended the battlefield having caused the fall of the 4th Republic in France, and the replacement of a largely parliemantary regime, (the prime-minister, head of the government, was chosen by the parliament)  with the current semi-presidential system, the 5th Republic, wherein  the president has the prerrogative of naming the head of the government .

Also the social consequences of the war arising from the unexpected and sudden return into mainland France of about  1 million descendents of  European French, those that would be pass on to history as the Pieds-Noirs, fleeing the war, were many, something we portuguese are also well aware of, since we had to deal with the same situation when about 500,000 portuguese, the so called "Retornados" returned to mainland Portugal, following the independece of our former colonies in Africa.

The main opponet of the French Army during the Independence war was the Algerian National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the FLN. 

Given the desert nature of large extensions of the Algerian territory, camel caravans were used to to ferry weapons and other essential supplies for the members of the NLA.

This fact is highlighted in the one stamp (100 Dnar) souvenir sheet issued on 04JUL2024 on the cover, which bears the legend Caravans of the National Liberation Army transporting Weapons Across the Sahara..

It should also be noted that the envelope is in total agreementg with the stamp since it is also illustrated with a similar scene.

The postmark was issued at Algerias third largest city, Annaba, located on the mediterranean coast, close to the border with Tunisia. 

COVER N. 589 - FRANCE

Postmark:  Bureau Philatélique 48 Mende RP 12.05.2025

Posted on the  12h May; Received on the 19th May 2025

_________________________________________________________________________________

I do find the souvenir sheet that La Poste has issued for the celebrations of that Opera of all Operas, Carmen, Bizet's chef d'oeuvre, absolutely delightful, so I was very happy to get another outstanding cover with this piece of philatelic art on it.

Un grand Merci Daniel.

I've written about this particular issue on the entry regarding cover #571. At the time I mentioned that the flower in the bottom centre of the illustration was that of an eucalyptus.

Well, on one of my recent walks along the Portuguese coast, I came across a bunch of trees in several towns through which I've passed on the way that made me think I was completely off the mark here. 

I now believe this to be a flower of a Metrosideros species plant, like the one I shot in Praia de Santa Cruz (Photo at the bottom of the post).

These look absolutely amazing when in bloom, especially in the warm light of the end of the day, with the red glowing in stark contrast with the rich, dep green of the foliage. a great sight!

The souvenir sheet, here obliterated with a postmark from the Bureau Philatélique of the city of Mende, in region of Occitania, in the South of France, was issued on 27MAR2025, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Bizet's Carmen

Time for a Seguidilla, I'd think....

COVER N. 588 - GERMANY

Postmark:  Dachau 10 85221 08.05.2024

Posted on the  8th May 2024; Received on the 13th May 2025

_________________________________________________________________________________

Alex sent me Germany's EUROPA issue for the year. Nice! Danke Sehr, Herr Phantom!

The Swabian Jura is a mountain range located mainly in the state of Baden-Wuttenberg, but which also extends  into Bavaria .

In the caves of its valleys, our ancestors took shelter from the harsh elements during their migration into Europe coming from Central Asia and the Middle East, some forty thousand years ago, as proven by the most ancient mobiles and musical instruments ever found, unearthed by archaeologists in the valleys of Ach and Lone.

The Common theme for  the EUROPA/CEPT stamp issues of 2025 being National Archaeological Finds, Deutsch Post chose to highlight these findings in the German issue with a single 0.95€  stamp miniature sheet, issued on 08MAY2025, illustrated, both sheet and stamp, with artefacts recovered in this region, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a status that acknowledges its importance as testimonial grounds for the evolution of mankind.

This fact is also highlighted in the stamp, which carries the legend: UNESCO - Welterbe Höhlen und Eiszeitkunst der Swchäbischen Alb. (UNESCO World Heritage Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Alb).

Alex completed postage with two 0.15 € stamps of the World of Letters definitive series. This particular stamp featuring a Letters Peacock was issued on 10AUG2024

The Postmark issued at Dachau is dated of the 8th May, thus making the cover an FDC for the Europa Issue stamp.