In Portugal, philately plays an important role in preserving collective memory. Over the years, our stamp issues have evoked people, heritage and events that have marked our shared culture and history. When a stamp is affixed to a letter, that public memory also becomes a passport. It travels distances, links people and communicates, through the postal service, the message that the heritage immortalised in these stamps belongs to all of us. The recent philatelic commemoration of the 9th centenary of the Zamora episode as well as that of the fiftieth anniversary of the April revolution and the independence of Portuguese-speaking countries reinforces this mission carried out by our stamps, that of protecting and disseminating national memory.
Among the important dates in our history, 25 November 1975 is one that cannot be forgotten as we approach its fiftieth anniversary. That date, according to various historians, represents a Portuguese Thermidor, bringing an end to the least stable phase of the revolutionary process and eventually sealing Portugal's democratic fate. Indeed, 25 November marks the laying of the foundations of the country we know today: a western, democratic State of Law, determined to follow the European path, with a plurality of parties, syndicates and social organisations, protecting freedoms of press, association and religion, and rights to property and education, and where military power is subordinate to democratic civil power.
The events of that day must, therefore, be regarded as an attempt at reconciliation and political stabilisation, avoiding a potential drift to the radical left and setting the Portuguese democratisation project firmly back on its original course.
25 November also paved the way for the successful conclusion of the Constituent Assembly, elected in April 1975. And thus we cannot celebrate the anniversary of the Constitution of 1976 without simultaneously recalling the events that took place in November the previous year.
The timely launch of this stamp series allows us to fulfil a duty to public memory and, at the same time, express the country’s gratitude to the key players soldiers, politicians and anonymous citizens in the events of that date. We are all deeply indebted to their courage.
São Bento Palace, 1 September 2025
President of the Assembly of the Republic
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco
