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.

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 Republic of Slovenia / Republika Slovenija

The Flag

The flag of Slovenia is the white–blue–red Slovene national flag bearing the coat of arms of Slovenia. The ratio between the width and length of the flag is one to two. 

The colours of the flag are, in the following order, white, blue and red. Each colour occupies a horizontal band covering one third of the flag. The coat of arms is positioned in the upper left canton of the flag such that it is positioned with one half in the white band and the other half in the blue band.

Source: National symbols | GOV.SI

There are two sources for the white-blue-red colours of the Slovenian national flag. For its national ethnic banner Slovenia had adopted a copy of the Russian flag, to show solidarity with fellow Slavic peoples, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Even earlier, however, the Holy Roman emperor had granted a coat of arms to the “Crown Land of Carniola,” which was then a part of the empire. This coat of arms featured a white shield bearing a blue eagle with a red-and-white checkered crescent on its breast.

Source: Flag of Slovenia | Meaning, Colors & Design | Britannica

The Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of Slovenia is in the form of a shield. The centre of the shield depicts Mount Triglav, as an emblem in white colour on a blue background, with two wavy lines below it symbolising the sea and rivers and three golden six-point stars arranged above it in the shape of a point-down triangle. The shield features a red border on two of its sides. The coat of arms is designed in accordance with a set standard of geometry and colour.

Source: National symbols | GOV.SI

The coat of arms of Slovenia is an emblem[1] that consists of a red bordered blue shield on which there is a stylised white Mount Triglav, under which there are two wavy lines representing the sea and the rivers of the country. Above Mount Triglav, there are three golden six-pointed stars representing the Counts of Celje.[2] It was designed in 1991 by Marko Pogačnik and adopted on 24 June 1991.

Source: Coat of arms of Slovenia - Wikipedia

The Stamp

The stamp on the cover is part of Slovenia's 2025 EUROPA issue on the common theme of  Archeological Discoveries, comprising two stamps (1,79 and 2,06 €) issued on 09MAY2025.

It depicts a Centaur archer brooch.

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: Poštna znamka

 

The Postmark

The Postmark was issued at Ljubljana, the country's capital. 

My thanks to my wife who kindly went through the trouble of  including a visit to the Post Office during her busy work stay in Ljubljana.

 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 India / Bhārat Gaṇarājya

The Flag

The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during the meeting of Constituent Assembly held on the 22 July 1947, a few days before India's independence from the British on 15 August, 1947. It served as the national flag of the Dominion of India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950 and that of the Republic of India thereafter. In India, the term "tricolour" refers to the Indian national flag.

The National flag of India is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes.

In the national flag of India the top band is of Saffron colour, indicating the strength and courage of the country. The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The last band is green in colour shows the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land.

The Dharma Chakra depicted the "wheel of the law" in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

Source: My India My Pride - Indian Tricolor - Know India: National Portal of India

The Emblem

The State Emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath. In the original, there are four lions, mounted back to back, on a circular abacus, which itself rests on a bell-shaped lotus. The frieze of the abacus has sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening Dharma Chakras.

The profile of the Lion Capital showing three lions mounted on the abacus with a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left was adopted as the State Emblem of India on January 26, 1950. The bell-shaped lotus was omitted. The motto Satyameva Jayate, which means 'Truth Alone Triumphs', written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital is part of the State Emblem of India.

Source: National Identity Elements - State Emblem - Know India: National Portal of India

The Stamps

- After decades of  mostly non-violent and civil disobedience struggle led mainly by Mahatma Gandhi and his followers, India achieved independence from the United Kingdom on the 15th August 1947.

Celebrating three quarters of a century of Independence, India Post issued on 11FEB2023 the 5 rupee stamp on the cover illustrated with the official logo of the commemorations, which bears the  Hindi legend Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, which might be translated into " The Elixir of Freedom".

- The 75th anniversary of India's independency occurring in the same year in which the United Arab Emirates celebrated the 50th anniversary of its formation, was the occasion chosen by the Postal Administrations of both countries to create a joint stamp issue, consisting of two stamps bearing the flag and the logo of the commemorations of each country.

The 25 rupee stamp bearing the Indian flag and logo issued on 16FEB2022 is also present on the cover. (The companion set stamp in the set has the same denomination /25 rupees) and bears UAE's Flag and 50 years of formation logo).

The Postmark

Piyush, whom I thank for this very nice addition to my collection sent the following notes, regarding the rather interesting cancellation:

The cancellation was issued at Goa and it commemorates  the 18th Exposition of St. Francis Xavier's Relics.

St. Francis Xavier arrived in India in 1542, [as a representative of the Portuguese Empire] embarking on a mission to spread Christianity.

His tireless efforts led to numerous conversions across India, Japan and other parts of Asia.

Sadly, he succumbed to illness in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan. His body was later brought to Goa, where it remains remarkably preserved.

The exposition of his relics in Old Goa, held every ten years, is a significant pilgrimage for Catholic worldwide, attracting thousands of devotees seeking blessings and spiritual solace.

My most sincere thanks to Piyush for his help in my obtaining this 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 Poland / Rzeczpospolita Polska

The Flag

The Polish flag is a rectangular banner featuring the colours of the national coat of arms: white and red, with a 5:8 proportion. Occasionally, a version with the emblem placed on the white stripe is used – primarily by Polish diplomatic missions and as the civilian ensign of Polish naval units.

The Polish national colours are one of the few in the world with heraldic roots. They originate from the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which were united under the Union of Lublin (1569) to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for over two centuries.

This heraldic origin was formally recognized in 1831 by a law passed by the parliament of the Kingdom of Poland. It stipulated that the national bow would consist of the colours of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: white and red.

After regaining independence on November 11, 1918, the Polish flag’s design was officially established by an act of the Polish parliament (Sejm) on August 1, 1919: ‘The colours of the Republic of Poland are white and red in two parallel horizontal stripes – white above, red below.’ I

In 1921, the Ministry of Military Affairs released a guide specifying the shade of red as crimson.

Source: National symbols

The Coat of Arms

The emblem of Poland features a white eagle with outspread wings, a crown, and golden beak and talons, set against a red shield.

The white eagle, probably a white-tailed eagle, has adorned coins, seals, banners, and shields of the Piast dynasty since the 12th century. The crowned eagle first appeared as the state coat of arms in 1295 on King Przemysł II’s royal seal.

The Union of Lublin in 1569 united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into one state – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – for over 200 years. Their shared emblem featured a white eagle on a red shield alongside Lithuania’s coat of arms: a knight galloping on horseback (the symbol of the Lithuanian Pahonia). Poland’s national colours, drawn from these coats of arms, were confirmed by Polish parliament (Sejm) in 1831.

The first seal featuring both the eagle and the Lithuanian Pahonia appeared in the 14th century, during the reign of Władysław Jagiełło. As Grand Duke of Lithuania, he initiated the union with Poland in Kreva in 1385.

After the partitions of the 18th century and the dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, new coats of arms were introduced for the annexed territories. However, the white eagle remained in use in many regions.

After Poland regained independence, it officially reinstated the white eagle as its national emblem in a Sejm resolution of 1919.

After World War II, communist authorities decided that the eagle should lose its crown, deeming it a ‘symbol of sovereignty.’ This change was formalised in 1955. The crown was restored in December 1989, following the fall of communism.

The current coat of arms was designed in 1927 by Zygmunt Kamiński (1888–1969), a graphic artist, painter, educator, and architect. A professor at Warsaw University of Technology, Kamiński also co-founded a school for architectural drawing.

Source: National symbols

The Stamp

On the 1st August of 1994, the Polish Armed Resistance, Armia Krajowa or AK, the largest  organised resistance movement in Europe, initiated what would go down in history as the Warsaw uprising. An effort  to try to liberate Poland from the Nazi occupiers, timed to ensure that the liberation would take place before the arrival of the Russian army, which was fast approaching.

The uprising although hard fought was unsuccessfull and the Germans would defeat the Polish resistance, after a battle of 63 consecutive days.

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of this the heroic resistance action, Poczta Polska  issued on 01AUG 2024 a souvenir sheet, featuring the 10 zloty stamp on the cover, illustrated with the image of an AK fighter.

My sincere thanks to Roman for his help in me obtaing this cover.

COVER N. 608 -  LATVIA 

Postmark: KC Dienvidkurzeme 01 LV-3416 08.07.2025

Posted on the 8th July; Received on the 14th July 2025

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Films and comics have slowly been making their way into stamps. So much so that it is not uncommon to find sets or individual dedicated to them.

In the past, I would think, stamps on these themes would be issued more as celebratory issues, marking the anniversary of this or that special film or director while nowadays, they are  just another promotion vehicle for this or that film, this or that comics character.

The last cover I received from Latvia, bears on it one such stamp. Liels paldies, Artūrs.

I have been out of cinema halls for so long that I can't remember when. There's no way... I just can't stand someone eating popcorn and slurping coke by my side while I try to watch a movie on a large screen, in the darkened atmosphere of a movie theatre.

Also, long gone are the days when my daughters would nag me to take them to watch the latest Disney of Pixar blockbuster....

As such, I'm in no way familiar with the current film universe...

So I have to confess my ignorance regarding Flow, a film which I read was jointly produced by Latvia, France and Belgium concerns, and which was directed by a rather young Latvian film director and animator named Gints Zilbalodis, who won an Oscar with it in 2024 as well as a whole lot of other prizes, what speaks for itself, regarding the quality of  his work.

Flow, I read in Wikipedia,  "features no dialogue and follows a cat trying to survive along with other animals in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world as the water level dramatically rises".

Of note is also the fact that the film, which took four years to complete, was created in open source software, another reminder of the power that is freely available today to anyone endowed with  creativity and the knowledge.

The 2,54€ stamp on the cover illustrated with Flow, the cat hero of Zilbalodis'  film, was issued on 27FEB2025

The postmark ahild from the Municipality of Dienvidkurzeme, on the southwest coast of the country.

POSTCARD N.185 - CHINA.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 8th June; received on the 9th July 2025.

Postcard image: Mount Everest under a stary sky - Shigatse, Tibet, China

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A very nice Postcrossing postcard with beautifull stamps 谢谢 Lili.

Postcrossing is really fun. Yes, I don't use it that much, because my efforts are more directed at my cover collection, but receiving a normal postcard illustrated with a picture of a far off place (or not that far, for that matter) with nice stamps on it is a very rewarding thing.

On the other hand, receiving a promotional postcard cut from a thin paper magazine or with an image of a product, or from a hotel or restaurant somewhere, as has happened to me before, is really not my cup of tea.

I like postcards for what they were initially intended to be: little windows into the world, its places, its peoples, its achievements, etc

And Lili's postcard sure fits the bill: Mount Everest by night, under a starry sky. Yes the photo could be better, that bloody lamppost to the left of the image is blowing all the highlights off , but your gaze is still directed at the centre of the image where the unmistakable shape of the Earth’s highest mountain summit is clearly recognizable. 

Strangely, this is not a place that would rank high on my list of places to visit. The images of all the garbage left by climbers and the horrific and stupid queues to attain the summit (not that I would ever try to do it, of course)  really make me think that people are getting stranger by the day.....

anyway, here it is:

Lili used two very beautiful stamps on the cover:

The 200 Chinese renminbi fēn shows Tiandu Peak over clouds, a 1810 m peak in the Huangshan mountains, a UNESCO World heritage Site, located  in the South of the Anhui Province of the People's Republic of China.

The  Stamp is part of an 8 x 200 renminbi fēn issued on 20OCT1997, on the occasion of UPU's 22nd Congress, held in Beijing.

The 3 Yuan stamp is the highest denomination stamp of a 9 stamp set (6 x 1,20; 2 x 1,1,50; 3 Yuan) issued on 15JUN2024, illustrated with views of the Qinling Mountains, a mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, whose highest peak (Mount Taibai) tops at 3,767 meters.

Sadly I could not trust google translator to clarify the postmark for me, since it gave me different options each time I pointed the camera at it :-).

 

COVER N. 607 -  UNITED KINGDOM - LUNDY

Postmark: Lundy Bristol Channel 03.07.2025

Posted on the 3rd July; Received on the 9th July 2025

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I open my letterbox to find a true oddity inside. Amazing cover. I had never heard about this tiny island with its own postal service. Un énorme Merci, Roland!

Lundy lies  in the Bristol channel, about 19 km away from the Devon coast. Today, the Island is owned by the National Trust, a private  heritage and conservation charity that aims to permanently preserve lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The island - about 5 km long and 0,8 km wide -  is almost completely devoid of any other means of transportation than your own legs (bicycles included) with the few  motorised  transportation means that exist being solely allocated to island management and function purposes.

The history of the private P.O. at Lundy goes back to 1927 when the General Post Office of UK withdrew Lundy from the list of its covered locations.

For a while and until November 1929, the then Island owner, Martin Coles Harman, kept on providing mail collection and distribution to the islanders free of charge, but on the 1st November of that year, Lundy own private post office stamps were introduced to help offset the cost of the service.

These initial stamps were denominated in the currency that Mr. Hartman also created - The Puffin, an homage to one of the island's most famous dwellers. Like the currency, the stamps only had two denominations: 1 Puffin and 1/2 Puffin.

The issuing of Lundy stamps continues to this day and by agreement with Royal Mail, it is not necessary anymore to affix the Lundy stamp on the back of the envelope, a rule that was in force up to 1962.

From then on, Lundy stamps had to be placed on the left side of the envelope, while the right side was reserved for GPO later Royal Mail stamps.

From 1974, Lundy was authorised to include the value of the Royal Mail postage on their stamps, what meant than letters could circulate with Lundy stamps only.

As far as I understand, (and please correct me if I am wrong, because I would really like to be sure about this), on the cover above, the ROW (Rest of the World) Lundy stamp includes both the local Lundy PO fee and the £3.20  Royal Mail postage fee.

The Puffin "ROW" stamp on the cover cancelled with a manual Lundy postmark, is part of the 2023 definitive issue (all stamps being identical except for colour and denomination) comprising 7 values (1st; 2nd; ROW; 20; 75; 100; 300 Puffins).

The Royal Mail  mechanical cancellation features a nice cachet with what is probably Lundy's most iconic building: the Old Light, Lundy's first lighthouse, built in 1820.

All in all a superb addition to  my collection. 

COVER N. 607 -  URUGUAY

Postmark: Correo Uruguaio Jefatura Dptal. (?) Admision 25.06.2025

Posted on the 25th June; Received on the 9th July 2025

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My friend the Flying Dutchman sends me a cover from Uruguay. Nice. As usual with Eric's mail they always come from where its least expected...and I love it! Hartelijk Dank, Eric!

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is one of those names that needs no introduction, at least to those of us who bear no grudge of the fact that as primates we share a common ancestor with apes (or believe that the earth is not a flat disk, for that matter...)

The ship in which he made the circum-navigation voyage that would prove instrumental in the development of his "theory of evolution by natural selection" is, for this fact, also famous and although the original can no longer be visited, since what's left of it seems to be buried in the mud, on river Roach in Essex, a true to size replica exists at Museo Nao Victoria, in Punta Arenas, Chile.

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop, launched on the 11th May 1820, its famous Journey around the world having taken place between 1831 and 1836.

Celebrating the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin birth, Correos de Chile issued a two stamp set (12 and 37 Pesos) on 31AUG2009. The higher value stamp, beautifully illustrated with the Beagle  sailing full sail not that far from land, can be seen on the cover.

The 50th anniversary of the first Europa/CEPT common issue, which occurred in 2006, was celebrated by many postal administrations around the world, many of them not even being members of CEPT, such as is the case of Uruguay.

The Uruguayan issue celebrating this fact comprised the two stamps on the cover (16 and 37 Pesos).

Issued on 11AUG2005, the two stamps were illustrated with  paintings by Uruguayan painter Carmelo Azardun, (1888-1968) and a facsimile of a Spanish Europa stamp issue: "Paisaje" (landscape) and the 1964  issue (16 Pesos); "Los nandues" (the Rheas - South American ostriches), and the 1962  issue(37 Pesos).