Journey of the EUROPA Stamps
1952
The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established in 1952 when European leaders from Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Paris.
1956
The first EUROPA issue dates back to 15 September 1956. The postal administrations of the founding six ECSC issued stamps with a common design: a tower made up of the letters of the word "EUROPA" and surrounded by construction scaffolding.
1959
In 1959, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunication Administrattions (CEPT) was formed. The stamps had a common design from 1956 to 1973, (with the exception of 1957). The initials “CEPT” were displayed on the joint issues.
1993
In 1993, PostEurop took over the management of the EUROPA issues as well as the responsibility for keeping its tradition and development. Every year PostEurop celebrates the EUROPA stamps on 9 May, EUROPE Day. PostEurop created a new EUROPA stamps with the word “EUROPA” leaning to the right.
2002
With the aim of further promoting EUROPA stamps issues among philatelists, PostEurop created an annual competition of the “Best Europa stamp” in 2002 to encourage creativity and excellence in EUROPA stamp design.
Until 2006, only representatives of the various postal administrations were entitled to elect the best Europa stamp during the Plenary Assembly of PostEurop.
2007
However, in 2007 the competition was made open to public voting which allowed EUROPA enthusiasts to vote for their most preferred stamp on PostEurop's website.
2011
In January 2011, the new EUROPA logo, preceded by a symbolic reminder of the mailbox was introduced. At the same time, PostEurop introduced the EUROPA Jury competition in which winners are judged by Philatelic experts.
Updated on 23 May 2024
