The stamp of the month November 2020 is one of the last stamps issued in Iceland. It is a Christmas stamp which, together with 5 other stamps, are the last stamps in Iceland to be available for purchase at the Icelandic Post Office since 29 October 2020. The motif of this stamp is for me symbolic of the disappearance of the Icelandic stamps. In the tradition of the modern design of Icelandic stamps – which has always impressed me – it shows on front of the polarlight a fox in his winter camouflage. In nature this camouflage renders him invisible in the snow – maybe one even forgets him – a fate that hopefully will not happen to the Icelandic stamps. Maybe – and this is my optimism now – in the future people will recognize in Iceland that stamps are also ambassadors of their own country and have a very own cultural value.
Either way, now we are definitely at the end of a long tradition. By the end of 2019, Iceland had issued more than 1,500 stamps. For my part, I will miss the new – now defunct – issues that reflected the Icelandic country and culture. Sad – like the look of the fox. I only hope that this example will not set a precedent!
Why is this my stamp of the month? I think it can be deduced from the written words above.