The stamp of the month 2021 is a stamp from Syria. Unfortunately, I have not been able to research much more about the background of this stamp beyond the purely technical details and that it was issued to mark Syrian Culture Day, which is held annually on November 23. This Culture Day coincides with the anniversary of the establishment of the Syrian Ministry of Culture in 1958.
The title of the stamp is “Calligraphy” – the art of handwriting, which has always fascinated me. But what actually appealed to me about this stamp – before I read the scant background provided – is that I immediately associated it with fleeing people in a sailboat on the Mediterranean sea even though this is apparently not the subject of the stamp at all. Our minds just go their own individual ways. For me, this stamp could therefore also be a symbol of the refugee crisis around the Mediterranean Sea. On Twitter I was told another interpretation, which is very beautiful: “Writing as the sail of the ship of life. Without writing no progress / propelling!”
Name of the stamp: Culture Day 2021 – Calligraphy
- Issue date: 2021-11-23
- Colors: Multicolor
- Printing: Offset lithography
- Value: 500 £ or ل.س – Syrian pound