Latvijas Pasts releases the first five stamps of 2020 in the series Coats of Arms of Latvian Towns and Municipalities, depicting the coats of arms of Babīte, Durbe, Koknese, Krimulda and Viļāni Municipalities. Each of the news stamps has a different face value, corresponding to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams within Latvia and to four geographical zones of the world’s countries in accordance with the changed universal postal service (UPS) tariffs that become effective as of the 1st of January 2020. The first day cancellation of the stamps is scheduled to take place in Riga post office No. 10 at 41/43 Elizabetes Street from 8 AM to 8 PM on the 3rd of January 2020. The stamps in the series Coats of Arms are printed on a self-adhesive base.
The release of the new stamps is accompanied by the issue of the first day cover with a print run of 1,000 copies. Just like the stamps, the cover features the coats of arms of the five municipalities and the location of the municipalities on the map of Latvia. The new philatelic releases have been designed by the artist Ģirts Grīva.
Each of the new stamps has been released with a different face value in accordance with the new UPS tariffs that become effective as of the 1st of January 2020.
The coat of arms of Babīte Municipality is depicted on the stamp with a face value of € 1.42; it corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in zone 3 according to the new tariff structure, and the print run of the stamp is 500,000 copies. The silver field of the coat of arms of Babīte Municipality features a red inflorescence of rhododendrons with five green leaves underneath. The rhododendron symbolises the values of nature that all inhabitants of the municipality should care about, while the inflorescence stands for the family, which is one of the values defined by Babīte Municipality.
The stamp with a face value of € 1.00, showing the coat of arms of Durbe Municipality, has a print run of one million copies and corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams within Latvia. The coat of arms incorporates a silver apple tree with apples, symbolising the town of Durbe and the combined parishes of Durbe, Dunalka, Tadaiķi and Vecpils.
The coat of arms of Koknese Municipality is depicted on the stamp with a face value of € 1.35. The face of the stamp corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in zone 2, and the print run of the stamp is 500,000 copies. The coat of arms of Babīte Municipality features a number of historic Koknese symbols: a silver crescent, a golden key and a silver wand.
The stamp with the coat of arms of Krimulda Municipality has a print run of 500,000 copies and a face value of € 1.29, corresponding to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in zone 1. The coat of arms of Krimulda Municipality features golden apples on a red background, symbolising fertility.
The face value of the stamp dedicated to Viļāni Municipality is € 1.54, and it corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in zone 4. The green field of this coat of arms portrays a golden nightingale with a silver bird cherry branch in its beak, while the lower part shows a silver river with four waves, symbolising all four territorial units of the municipality.
