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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Isle of Man - Interceltique 2008



Isle of Man stamp issue depicting Celtic nations

On 12 May 2008, the postal administration of the Isle of Man will issue a set of eight postage stamps showing the flags of the Celtic nations, presented as follows:
"This set of stamps celebrates the links between the Isle of Man and other Celtic nations: Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Ireland, Asturias and Galicia. Each stamp features the native language of our fellow Celts. The Europa theme for 2008 is letter writing."
The eight stamps are available in a sheet showing the following flags (the names are given as shown on the stamps, with the English equivalent placed between brackets):
  • Top row, from left to right:
  • 20 p: Kernow (Cornwall) - Black flag with white cross
  • 30 p: Mannin (Isle of Man) - Red flag with the three-legged emblem
  • 31 p: Alba (Scotland) - Blue flag with a white saltire
  • 48 p: Breizh (Brittany) - Horizontally divided black-white, nine stripes, a white canton charged with 11 ermine spots, 4 + 3 + 4
  • Bottom row, from left to right:
  • 50 p: Éire (Ireland) - Vertically divided green-white-orange flag
  • 56 p: Asturies (Asturias) - Light blue flag with a yellow cross trefly bearing the yellow Greek letters "alpha" and "omega"
  • 72 p: Cymru (Wales) - Vertically divided white-green flag with a red dragon
  • £1.13: Galicia - White flag with a blue descending diagonal stripe
The stamps are square. On the bottom of the each stamp is written "INTERCELTIQUE - X", "X" being the place name. There is a motto in smaller characters above, overlapping the lower part of the flag, written in the language matching the flag:
  • Cornwall: "Den heb tavas a-gollas a dyr" ("A man without a language has lost his land", which should be "Den heb tavas a gollas y dyr" according to the Cornwall24 Discussion Board)
  • Isle of Man: "Gyn chengey, gyn cheer" (sometimes written with "ç" instead of "c", "No language, no country", the motto of the Manx Language Society "Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh", founded in 1899)
  • Scotland: "Tìr gun teanga, tìr gun anam" ("A country without language, a country without a soul")
  • Brittany: "Hep brezhoneg, Breizh ebet" ("Without Breton [language], no Brittany")
  • Ireland: "Tìr gan teanga, tìr gan anam" ("A country without language, a country without a soul")
  • Asturias: "Un país que desanicia la so llingua pierde l'alma" ("A country that abandons its language losts its soul")
  • Wales: "Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon" ("A nation without a language is a nation without a heart.")
  • Galicia: "Unha terra, un povo e unha fala" ("One land, one people, one language").

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