Ecology in Europe
Tradition is a set of values which represent a bond between past and present, and the pledge for the future. One nation cannot fully understand its own tradition and culture unless it connects with other nations. In 2016, the Association of European public postal opera-tors “PostEurop“ is celebrating 60 years since the creation of the first “Europa“ issue postal stamp, and it also reflects on the bridge that is behind us, bridge that European nations and their postal operators have been building continuously for previous 60 years, which is connecting diversity of all parts of Europe and thus creates unbreakable bond between European nations that lasts to this day and which represents one of the greatest achievements of European civilization.
The beginning of this nice and long tradition is placed in 1956 when the first “Europa“ issue postal stamp was realised. Its designer, Frenchman Daniel Gonzague, showed creation of a new Europe destroyed by World War II, which is reflected in building a tower that represents vertically paced letters of the word EUROPA. The tower is surrounded by construction scaffoldings symbolizing that the construction of the new Europe is in progress. Today, 60 years later, when the wars are behind us and when the tower “Europa“ has been built, “PostEurop” recognizes the importance of preservation and protection of the environment, and it selected “Ecology in Europe – Think Green“ as the theme for the 2016, to highlight one of the biggest problems of modern society. Author of the artistic solution for the joint “Europa” stamp, that will be issued by all “PostEurop” members, is Cypriot Ms. Doxia Sergidou, which on one side showed ecological danger which threatens us and its causes, and on the other side a picture of a society that cares for its environment. Factor that makes the difference between those two sides is us, and it depends on us what kind of world we want to leave to the future generations.
