Japan - Japanese Theatre Series IV "NOH" 1972

JAPANESE THEATRE SERIES POSTAGE STAMPS (IV) "NOH"
Date of issue: 20 September 1972

Noh is the theatrical performance peculiar to Japan originated in Sarugaku, an ancient drama, and was accomplished in the 14th century by Kan-ami and Ze-ami,a father and son.
A kind of the musical drama, Noh play is simple and well-refined with the musical accompaniment composed of flute, several kinds of drums and Noh song. The atmosphere of elegance and quietude permeates the stage. Noh embodies the soul of the classical of Japan.

Design : "Tamura"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Intaglio-tonal engraving
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kikuzo Yasuhiko
Arranged by : Saburo Watanabe
Quantity issued : 40,000,000

Design : "Aoi-no-ue"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kunihei Kameda
Arranged by : Takashi Shimizu
Quantity issued: 40,000,000 stamps

Design : "Hagoromo"
Denomination : 50 yen
Size of impression: 48mm x 33mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 10 (2 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Tateo Yoshikoshi
Arranged by : Hitoshi Otsuka
Quantity issued : 20,000,000 stamps

Lithuania - Coat of Arms 1992 - 2009

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1996

1996

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF KLAIPEDA'S LAND"
Issued date: 25 May 1996
Description:

153. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 0.40 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

154. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

155. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

Created by: Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Budapest.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1995

1995

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF HIGHLAND"
Issued date: 20 May1995
Description:

123. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 0.20 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

124. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 0.70 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

125. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

Created by: Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1994

1994

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF LOWLAND"
Issued date: 25 June 1994
Description:

Traditional holiday clothes, which were worn by lowlanders men and women of various ages until the middle of the XIX century. Modern lowlanders clothes are based upon these forms.

52. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 5 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

53. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 80 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

54. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.50 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow's Goznak printing-house.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1993

1993

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF DZUKAI"
Issued date: 30 October 1992
Description:

81. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 60 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

82. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 80 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

83. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 1.
Edition 0.50 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow's Goznak printing-house.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1992

1992

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF SUVALKIECIAI"
Issued date: 18 October 1992
Description:

Suvalkija is one of Lithuania's region in the southwest part of the country. It is situated southward and westward of Nemunas and includes the present district of Marijampole. After the third partition of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth (1795) this territory was allocated to Prussia. Later it was incorporated into the autonomy Kingdom of Poland, where the civil code Napoleon was used.

52. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 200.
Edition 1.00 m.

53. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 500.
Edition 2.00 m.

54. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 700.
Edition 3.00 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Leipzig's Securities printing-house.

Malta - Historic Commemoration1998

Malta - Communities 1993

How many Coat of Arms on this issue?
Could you count?

01 Valletta 02 Mdina 03 Birgu 04 Isla 05 Bormla 06 Qormi 07 Żebbuġ 08 Żabbar 09 Siġġiewi 10 Żejtun 12 Attard 13 Balzan 14 Birkirkara 15 Birżebbuġa 16 Dingli 17 Fgura 18 Floriana 20 Gudja 21 Gżira 24 Għargħur 26 Għaxaq 27 Ħamrun 28 Iklin 29 Kalkara 31 Kirkop 32 Lija 33 Luqa

34 Marsa 35 Marsaskala 36 Marsaxlokk 37 Mellieħa 38 Mġarr 39 Mosta 40 Mqabba 41 Msida 44 Naxxar 45 Paola 46 Pembroke 47 Pietà 49 Qrendi 50 Rabat 51 Safi 52 San Ġiljan 53 San Ġwann 55 San Pawl il-Baħar 57 Santa Luċija 58 Santa Venera 59 Sliema 60 Swieqi 61 Taʼ Xbiex 62 Tarxien 65 Xgħajra 67 Żurrieq 68 Mtarfa

Malta - Maltase Cities (1797-1997)

South Africa - Life in Informal Settlements 2003

Fiji - Traditional Fijian Chief's Costumes 1998

20th January 1998

During the nineteenth century, the advent of Christianity and westernisation brought many changes to the traditional way of life. The acceptance of the new religion and order meant an end to warfare, and new technologies and their prducts rendered obsolete, or nearly so, many traditional skills such as pottery and barkcloth manufacture, victims of the ready availibility of iron pots from Birmingham and printed cloth from Manchester.

For Fijian men, the most common article of clothing was the malo or masi, a strip of plain white barkcloth wound around the waist and between the legs, with the length of the train being a measure of chiefly status. Fijian barkcloth is made by women by soaking and then pounding the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree (Broussenetia papyrifera).

For women, the typical everyday dress consisted of a skirt (liku) of vegetable fibre, most commonly the bast of the vau (beach hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus).

Both sexes often supplemented their dress with various ornaments, such as qato (bracelets), vesa (armbands and legbands) and itaube (necklaces).

Traditional modes of dress are no longer seen in everyday use, but survive in modified form in men's dress for meke (dances) and important ceremonies such as kau matanigone (formally presenting a child to his or her mother's people) and veibuli (installation of a chief).

This set of stamps commemorates the splendour of the elaborate traditional Fijian dress as worn by chiefs around the middle of the nineteenth century.

81 cents - A chief in war dress

This chief wears a turban (ivauvau) of very fine white barkcloth and a necklace of carved ivory (wasekaseka), with a sash (iwabale) of white barkcloth over his right shoulder. The waistband of his loincloth is wound high up, around the lower ribs, as a signal of challenge. His kilt is made of the shiny black fibrous roots of the waloa. Around his upper arms and calves he wears ornaments (vesa) of bundles of black threads with small white beads. He is armed with a distinctively-shaped culacula club, which is also an insignia of rank. Note that the last joint of the little finger of his right hand is missing, having been cut off as a gesture of mourning on the death of a senior relative or chief.

87 cents - A chief in formal dress

This chief wears the Tongan-influenced dress that was in vogue in parts of coastal Eastern Fiji, where Tongan influence was strongest in the mid-nineteenth century. It was commonly worn by Cakobau, the leading chief of Eastern Fiji, after his conversion to Christianity. The main component is a single large sheet of gatu ni Toga (Tongan barkcloth) extending from the waist to the ankles, with plain white barkcloth folded or twisted and wound around the waist to help hold it in position. A hair-styling pin (iqeu) of balabala (tree fern) wood protrudes at the left temple. The chief's rank is confirmed by the necklace of a single bulikula (the rare golden cowry, Cypraea aurantium).

$1.12 - A chief in presentation dress

The "costume" worn by this chief of Nadrau, in the central highlands of Viti Levu, is in a fact a large quantity of plain white barkcloth which he wears only temporarily as a means of formally presenting it at a solevu (ceremonial exchange of valuable property). After the formal presentation in front of the assemled recipients, the cloth is untied and unwound and handed over to them. The chief's earlobe is pierced, as used to be the case with all Fijian men, and plugged with an ivory cylinder (sau). He also wears on his arms a pair of white qato (shell armbands). He is missing two joints from the little finger of his left hand, amputated as a sign of mourning.

$2 - A highland chief in war dress

This chief is from Nasaucoko, in the central highlands of Viti Levu. His chiefly standing is confirmed by the long train of white barkcloth with fringed edges, originating from a large bow at the small of his back, and also the relatively long "apron" of barkcloth sat the front. The blackening of part of his face and forehead, as well as the wearing of a belt of barkcloth high up, around the lower ribs, indicate that he is about to enter battle. The club he carries is a vunikau (rootstock club), the head of which is part of the root system of the plant from which the club was fashioned. He also wears a batinivuaka (boar's tusk pendant) around the neck, a pair of qato (shell armbands) just above the elbow, and vesa (legbands) of fern leaves just below the knees. Both his little fingers have been amputated in the traditional Fijian expression of mourning.

Technical Details:

Title: Traditional Fijian Chief's Costumes
Values: 81c, 87c, $1.12, $2
Designer: Mr. Muni Deo Raj
Printer: The House of Questa Ltd
Process: Lithography
Stamp Size: 28.45 x 42.58 mm
Stamp Format: Potrait
Gauge: Approx 14 per 2 cm
Paper: CA Watermarked

Vietnam - Fashion 1999

Faroe Islands - A Glimpse of Everyday Life in the Viking Age 2005

A Glimpse of Everyday Life in the Viking Age

Date of issue: 07 February 2005
Primary Theme: Agriculture & Food (Crops & Farming), History (History of Peoples)
Width: 28.8mm
Height: 39.5mm
Denomination: 7.50DKK
Printing: Offset/ Steel Plate Printing
Number in set: 3
Layout/ Format: Miniature sheet of 3 of 3 designs
Perforations: 13.25 per 2 cm
Stamp Issuing Authority: Postverk Foroya
Printer: Post Danmark Security Printing Office
Artist: Martin Mörck

A glimpse of everyday life in the Viking Age

Where people spend any amount of time, they leave traces, including the remains of the buildings they once erected in their settlements. Most domestic waste was thrown out of the door, where it remained unless anything that might be edible was eaten by domestic animals such as cats, dogs and pigs. It is this detritus that can give posterity an insight into what it was like to live in the past. If this knowledge is to be gained, however, such material relics must undergo archaeological investigation.

On the farms around the Faroe Islands the people of the Viking Age lived off what the land, both the infields and outlying pasture, could produce together with what could be caught at sea, landed from the coast and hunted in the mountains.

The kitchen utensils used in the households of the period were partly of domestic and partly of foreign origin. The imported goods were either produced abroad or made from foreign raw materials, i.e. materials that were not found locally on the islands. These included utensils and implements made from soapstone, e.g. vessels and pots, which were more or less bowl-shaped and were used for cooking. They varied greatly in size from less than 20 cm to around 50 cm in diameter. As the same types of vessel found on the Faroe Islands are also found in Norway, it is natural to assume that such goods were imported from Norway. Another possibility is Shetland, where soapstone is also found as a raw material.

Households used earthenware as well as soapstone vessels. Based on the information available, it is impossible to say whether the early settlers, or Landnamsmen as they are called, were already using earthenware when they arrived on the islands. There is a great deal to indicate, however, that earthenware became part of domestic life during the Viking Age, i.e. in the late 10th – 11th century. This is interesting in terms of cultural history, because back in Norway earthenware had been completely abandoned in favour of soapstone vessels, a practice that the Northmen brought with them as they travelled west. These earthenware vessels are all unglazed, shaped by hand, generally by coiling and without a wheel, and fired at a low temperature. There seems to be considerable variation in shape, with bowl-shaped, hemispherical and bucket-shaped vessels having been found. There is also considerable variation in size, with the opening varying between about 18 and 30 cm, for example, and the height between around 10 and 20 cm. Food encrustation on the inside indicates that the earthenware vessels were used for the preparation of food. However, no remains have been found that might have been linked to earthenware production itself, e.g. kilns, but it is easy to imagine earthenware vessels being fired in the hearth.

The exciting investigations into animal bones that have taken place in recent years have provided an insight into the animal husbandry of the past and the resources exploited in the Viking Age. It has been established that pigs were widely kept in addition to sheep and cattle, while compared with other locations in the North Atlantic, seabirds accounted for a very large proportion of the diet on the Faroe Islands.

Rooms were illuminated by means of oil lamps, which might have been no more than hollowed-out stones. But there are also examples of lamps being carved from tuff, a soft, volcanic rock that was easy to carve, which is why such lamps often had various forms of simple decoration.

In addition to the above types of kitchen utensil made from stone, the people also used a lot of different vessels made from wood, including turned wooden vessels and small, carved rectangular vessels or bowls. Staves and heads from large and small crozed wooden vessels have also been found. The many finds of twisted juniper stems are characteristic of the remains of older settlements. Juniper grew locally when people and animals took possession of the islands. The stems have been found in many different lengths and thicknesses, and were used as handles for wooden vessels or as ropes, for example. Wooden pins of varying sizes have also been found. Some of then are frequently interpreted as being so-called “sausage skewers” and others as being spindles used for working with wool.

Apart from food preparation, other important indoor chores included wool processing. Finds of spindle whorls and warp weights bear witness to this activity. The spindle whorls, which can be of basalt or tuff, are often also made from fragments of broken soapstone pots. Weights were required for work on vertical looms. Some special forms of warp weight made of drilled slate for hanging seem to have been imported, but ordinary basalt stones with a groove round the outside were also widely used.

In daily work both indoors and out cutting implements such as knives and scythes, for example, were indispensable, and they had to be kept sharp. The number of whetstones found bears witness to this. They were made from both clay slate and mica schist – even whole blanks of the raw material for whetstones have been found. This is another example of goods that had to be imported from Norway.

Hay was produced for animal feed. But grain was also grown on the Faroe Islands, with the grain of the Viking Age being six-rowed barley. This had to be ground, which was done using millstones of relatively soft mica schist characterised by hard red garnets inclusions. This raw material is found at Hardanger in West Norway. Studies have shown that this area had large quarries that produced schist for making millstones for export as long ago as the Viking Age.

The fields were not the only place where work was done. Sinkers testify to the importance of fishing. These might be made from soapstone, which frequently turned out to have been reworked from vessel fragments. But it was most usual, perhaps, to use large and small pebbles with a groove round the outside to secure the line to.

Apart from the knives previously mentioned, metal artefacts include iron locks, rivets and fish hooks of various sizes. The metal finds frequently occur in very small fragments such as bronze plates with rivets attached, which may have been rim or opening hardware for wooden vessels, for example. The quite frequent finds of slag may also be the result of forging to do with the utensils already mentioned.

In visualising how people on the Faroe Islands dressed during the Viking Age, we must make do with drawing comparisons with what is known from other locations in the North Atlantic, but there are several finds to indicate that people quite liked to dress up. There is, for example, evidence of objects that can be described as personal accessories – ornaments such as bone combs, for example, both single and double. People wore necklaces and bracelets with both amber beads and silver- or gold-coated glass beads. They also wore silver rings, fine bronze buckles and ring pins, which they attached to their clothes.

Leisure activities and children’s games clearly also played an important role in everyday life in the Viking Age. In addition to gaming pieces, half a game board has been found with “Nine Men’s Morris” on one side and the Old Norse game of “Hneftafl” on the other. Finely carved horses and toy boats were made for the children, with examples being found at the Viking Age farm in Kvívík and the summer settlement at Argisbrekka near the village of Eiði.

Just as in other locations in the North Atlantic the art of writing was also practised on the Faroe Islands in the Viking
Age. Several artefacts made of both wood and stone with engraved runes were found during the excavation of dwellings in Eiði and Leirvík, for example.

The imported materials provide clear evidence that the Viking Age population on the Faroe Islands was not isolated to any great extent. Such materials clearly indicate quite close contact with the outside world, as likely as not in the form of trading relations both with the inhabitants’ old homeland, with communication doubtlessly originating in Bergen, and the other Norse settlements in the areas to the south of the Faroe Islands.

India - Tribals 1981

Senegal - Cultures 2000 (Deluxe Sheet)

China - National Flags & Coat of Arms 2004

Flag of the People's Republic of China

The flag of the People's Republic of China, the "Five-Starred Red Flag (simplified Chinese: 五星红旗; traditional Chinese: 五星紅旗; pinyin: wǔ xīng hóng qí), was designed by Zeng Liansong, an economist and artist from Rui'an (瑞安 ruì ān), Zhejiang. He designed it in response to a circular distributed by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference1949, shortly after they came to power. Out of more than 3,000 entries received for the design competition, Zeng's was chosen after being nominated as one of the 38 finalists. Mao Zedong hoisted the first flag on a pole overlooking Tiananmen Square on the day of its unveiling. China's first national flag originated in 1872. It was yellow with a blue dragon, representing the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty, which ruled China for many years. The revolt of 1911 saw the changing of the flag to 5 different colored stripes. Soviet republics were established in the 1920s, each of which was represented by a red flag referring to the Soviet fatherland. The present flag dates from 1949, when the People's Republic was formed.

History of the design

The design went through several changes and was finally approved by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on September 27, 1949 at their First Plenary Session. The original design plans contained several alterations in comparison with the modern-day flag.

Three of the original flag candidates showed the large golden star (with no additional stars anywhere else) along with one, two, or three yellow bars (horizontal) at the bottom of the flag, representing the Yangtze, Huang He (Yellow River) and the Zhujiang River (Pearl River). They were not chosen by the officials, however, because the very presence of these bars appeared to suggest the idea of a tearing or splitting of the nation.

The final design was red with a large golden five-pointed star and four smaller golden five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner. The color red symbolizes the spirit of the revolution, and the five stars signify the unity of the people of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The flag was officially unveiled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949, the formal announcement of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Symbolism

The current design uses red as its background and golden for its stars. The red background symbolizes the blood of heroes who died during the revolution. The golden colour mainly symbolizes the glorious history and culture of the Chinese people and was partly inherited from the colours of the flag of Soviet Union, which was also a combination of red and gold, in which case the gold symbolizes the brightness of the communist future.

The larger star symbolizes the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the four smaller stars that surround the big star symbolize the four classes of Chinese that were considered unitable by Mao at that historical time (from one of Mao's work: On The People's Democratic Dictatorship); these are the Workers, Peasants, Petty Bourgeoisie (i.e. Small Business Class), and National Bourgeoisie (i.e. Chinese non-governmental businessmen). The most popular modern interpretation is the four stars represent the four occupations most esteemed by the Communist Party of China, which are farmers, workers, teachers, and soldiers. An interpretation under a more historical context is the four stars represent the traditional four categories of the people in the state, which are Workers (gōng, 工), Farmers (nóng, 农), Intellectual (shì, 士), and Businessmen (shāng, 商) (see also Four occupations).

It is sometimes stated that the five stars of the flag represent the five largest ethnic groups.^[1][2]"Five Races Under One Union" flag, used 1912–28 in the early Republic of China, whose different-colored stripes represented the Han, Manchus, Mongols, Hui/Uyghurs, and Tibetans.

Cultural Sensitivity

Many people of China tend to be sensitive towards the use/alteration of their flag. Cutting or writing on the flag is taboo and even editing an image of a flag electronically is frowned upon.

National Emblem of the People's Republic of China

The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国国徽) contains a representation of Tiananmen Gate, the entrance gate of the Forbidden City from the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in a red circle. Above this representation are the five stars found on the national flag. The five stars represented the union of Chinese peoples. This was interpreted as the union of the five major ethnicities in China by many people, but other people interpreted as the five social classes. The emblem is described as being "Composed of patterns of the national flag."^[1] These elements were described as

...The red color of the flag symbolizes revolution and the yellow color of the stars the golden brilliant rays radiating from the vast red land. The design of four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

—China Yearbook 2004^[2]

The circle has a border that contains sheaves of wheat reflecting the Maoist philosophy of an agricultural revolution. At the center of the bottom portion of the border is a cog-wheel that represents the industrial workers.

These elements together were designed to symbolise the revolutionary struggles of the Chinese people since the May Fourth Movement, and the coalition of the proletariats which succeeded in founding the People's Republic of China.

The emblem was designed by Liang Sicheng, a famous architect, in a competition held at the founding of the People's Republic with obvious similarities to the symbols used by the USSR. It was determined as the National Emblem (September 20, 1950) by the Central People's Government.

Belgium - Dancing 2006

Macau - Chinese Opera Costumes 1991

Chinese Opera

Chinese opera is a traditional dramatic form which sizes literature, music, dance, fine arts, martial arts and acrobatics. Its origin can be traced back as far as to primitive society and the prototype of Chinese opera already appeared in the Song Dynasty 800 years ago. In the long course of evolution, it was enriched and improved and gradually formed a complete artistic system of its own. There are many tune systems in Chinese opera which are typical features to distinguish one opera from another. The operas derived from different dialects, folk songs and folk music and at the same time interacted on each other. Roles or characters are divided into four categories: Sheng (males), Dan (females), Jing (males with painted face) and Chou (clowns). Its acting is featured by highly stylized movements from daily life and by a very imaginative usage of the stage to deal with the problem of space, emphasizing singing , acting , reciting and skilful acrobatic fighting. Chinese opera has more than 360 local types, totalling more than ten thousand plays. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, many revised traditional plays, newly arranged historical plays and plays reflecting contemporary life have appeared on stage and were warmly received by vast audiences. More than fifty Chinese operas enjoy great popularity, such as Beijing Opera, Kun Opera, Shaoxing Opera, Yu Opera. Yue Opera, Qin Opera, Chuan Opera, Ping Opera, jin Opera, Han Opera, Chao Opera, Min Opera, Hebei Clapper Opera, Xiang Opera, Huangmei Opera and Hunan Huagu Opera. Beijing Opera enjoys special reputation all over China. Beining Opera, once called 'Peking Opera', is the most influential and representative of all operas in China and has a history of about 200 years. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a local opera troupe from Anhui Province came to Beijing and brought its 'Hui Tune' (which originated in Anhui Pronince and was called 'Pihuang' opera) to the capital. It soon became prevalent. In the course of evolution, it partly drew and adopted repertoire, tune and manner of perfromance from Kun Opera (a local opera from Jiangsu area) and Qin Opera (a local opera from Shaanxi Province) as well as folk tunes, gradually developing into what we now call Beijing Opera. Placing emphasis on dancing as well as on singing, it adopted the skills of Chinese martial arts and created its own uniquely stylized, fictitious and strongly rhythmical movements.Singing and reciting show elaborate articulation and phrasing . Systemized in its four categories of singing, acting reciting and acrobatic fighting, Beijing Opera has exerted a strong influence on other local operas.

Palestine - Traditional Palestinian Women's Costumes 1995

Traditional Palestinian Women's Costumes

250 Fils Women in embroidered costumes
300 Fils Women carrying basket
550 Fils Woman in cloak
900 Fils Women in veiled head-dress

Palestine - First Palestinian Legislative & Presidential Elections 1996

Australia - Art Festivals 2000

Issue date: 24 February 1999

Many different arts festivals take place around Australia each year. These stamps celebrate our five largest arts festivals.

The 45 cents stamps show (from left) Australia's oldest international arts festival, Perth Arts Festival, Adelaide Festival, which is held every two years, Sydney Festival, Melbourne Festival, and Brisbane Festival.

All of these festivals feature local and international dancers, actors, and musicians. The festivals often also include films, art exhibitions and street theatre performances.

Thailand 1976 - Postal Uniforms

Issue Name: Postman's Uniforms
Issue Date: 04 April 1976
Perforation: 12.5
Denomination: 1.00 Baht, 3.00 Baht, 4.00 Baht, 5.00Baht
Details: To Show the development of postmans Uniforms up to the Present tin Time
Size: 45 x 27 mm
Printer: Suomen Pankin Setelipation Bank of Finland Security Printing House; Finland

Great Britain - Christmas 2008 Pantomimes (Self Adhesive)

Look out Behind You! Pantomimes are all about song and dance, slapstick and buffoonery and audience participation. Oh yes they are!

1st Class - The Genie of the Lamp

Ready to grant Aladdin his three wishes, the Genie of the Lamp was granted his wish by finding himself on the 1st Class stamp. 

2nd Class – The Ugly Sister
Cinderella’s less than sensational siblings are traditionally played by a pair of burly men and appears on our best seller at Christmas, the 2nd Class stamp.

1st Class Large – The Genie of the Lamp
Again Aladdin’s Genie of the Lamp appears. This time on the 1st Class Large Letter stamp.

2nd Class Large – The Ugly Sisters
Again Cinderella’s Ugly Sisters appear. This time on the 2st Class Large Letter stamp.

50p Stamp - Captain Hook
Captain Hook and his magnificent moustache will bewinging his way across the continent on the 50p Europeanstandard rate stamp.

81p – The Wicked Queen
With her poison apple Snow White’s wicked Queen is guaranteed to raise a boo and a hiss.

Whether you can find which pictures representative the below statement?

• "It's behind you"
• "Abracadabra"
• 'Oh YES it is!'
• 'Oh NO it isn't!'

Guess it fren?

Great Britain - Flags 2001

DDR, Germany - Coat of Arms 1983, 1984, 1985

Hongaria - Masks 1973

Vietnam - Vietnamese Community of Ethnic Groups 2005

Introduction

Vietnam is the homeland of many ethnic groups. According to legend, all are descendants of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, hatching out of a hundred eggs, half of them following their mother to the mountain, the other half accompanying their father to the sea. They joined hands to build the nation from "Three mountains, four seas and the land mass", with endless forests and mountains, delta plains stretching as far as the eyes can see and the Eastern Sea rippling its waves all the four seasons. It is a land stretching from the high peak of Lung Cu (north) to the hamlet of Rach Tau (south) and from the Truong Son Range (west) to the Truong Sa archipelago (east).

Living together in one country from time immemorial, all the ethnic groups develop a tradition of patriotism and unite and assist mutually in the conquest of nature and in social struggle, throughout the historic process of national construction, defense and development.

The history of the conquest of nature is really an epic, manifesting the creative innovation, vitality, determination to surmount all obstacles, adaptability to natural conditions of each ethnic group to produce, subsist and develop. People of various ethnic groups have found out different patterns to cope with nature, appropriate to specific natural geographical conditions.

In the lowland and mid-land regions, people work the rice fields to grow wet rice and build village culture on the back-ground of communal houses, wells, banyan trees and green bamboo groves. The delta plain, agriculture, villages and hamlets constitute a source of inspiration for the making of multi-panel robes, rose-colored bodices and hats with fringed chin strap, for the composition of folk songs, love duets and folk verses familiar with specific regions.

In the mountain areas, people grow wet rice in valleys, develop terraced fields for dry crops, especially corn, and begin to plant perennial trees such as anise and cinnamon, in replacement of natural forests. They live in houses built on stills, wear trousers or jupes and indigo vests with design motifs imitating wild flowers and beasts. It is their habit to drink can (bamboo pipes) wine from jars.

In the northern uplands and the Central Highlands, people clear and burn jungle patches as a method of farming in the pre-industry age. With a sub-tropical climate, cultivation is chiefly carried out in summer and autumn. For acclimatization and the raising of land utility rate, the highlanders from time immemorial have developed multi-cropping to generate further income and prevent soil erosion. With their dexterity and sense of aesthetics, the young women have made skirts and vests with beautiful and colorful decorations and in a style convenient to farming work in terraced fields and to travel on hill slopes and mountain gorges. The generous forests and mountains and backward farming methods give rise to mythical rituals with propitious conditions for their development. Almost all regions in the Central Highlands hold buffalo-stabbing ceremonies in honor of Giang (Heaven) to pray for health, for the good of livestock breeding and for bumper crops. These regions harbour innumerable legendary stories and gallant chronicles, the value of which is comparable to those of China and India but their collection and study are still inadequate. These ethnic minorities are the creators of stone xylophones, T'rung and Krongput musical instruments, sets of gongs and group dances, rich of community colours.

Along the coastline from north to south, people live on fishing. In the morning fishing boats sail out to the open sea and in the evening return to the shore. The life here is bustling with activity as is in farming areas at harvest time.

Everywhere, man lives in harmony with nature and nature does not betray human efforts.

Lying in the Indochinese peninsula, the gateway to main-land and offshore Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the location of cultural intercourse in this region, with three major language families, i.e. Austro-Asian Language Family, Austronesian Language Family and Sino-Tibetan Language Family. The Vietnamese speak the languages of eight different groups. Of which the Viet-Muong Group includes four ethnic groups: the Chut, Kinh, Muong and Tho, the Tay-Thai Group includes eight ethnic groups: the Bo Y, Giay, Lao, Lu, Nung, San Chay, Tay and Thai, the Mon-Khmer Group includes 21 ethnic groups such as the Ba Na, Brau, Bru-Van Kieu, Chl Ro, Co, Co Ho, Co Tu, Gie Trieng, Hre, Khang, Khmer, Kho Mu, Ma, Mang, M'Nong, O Du, Ro Mam, Ta Oi, Xinh Mun, Xo Dang and Xtieng, the Mong-Dao Group includes the Dao, Mong and Pa Then, the Kadai Group includes the Co Lao, La Chi, La Ha and Pu Peo, the Malayo-Polynesian Group includes the Cham, Chu-ru, Ede, Gia-rai and Ra-glai, the Han Group includes the Hoa, Ngai and San Diu, the Tibeto-Burman Group includes the Cong, Ha Nhi, La Hu, Lo Lo, Phu La and Si La. The majority Viet, who account for 88 per cent of the country’s population, live mainly in the delta of the Red River, the coastal plains of the centre and the Mekong delta. Fifty three other ethnic groups totaling 5.5 million people live mostly in mountain areas stretching from north to south and covering two-thirds of the country.

Although they speak different languages, the ethnic groups live close to one another and so one group can know the language of others through everyday relations, and although they are involved in cultural exchange, they keep retaining the identity of their own culture. The diversity of the retaining the identity of their own culture. The diversity of the cultures of ethnic groups does not take them off the track of the common development of the nation, just as the peculiarity is in tune with the generality in the dual category of philosophy.

The Ho Chi Minh Era which started with the triumph of the 1945 August Revolution has brought about a great change in the life of the national community. The consistent policy put forth by the Party and State on nationalities boils down to equality, unity, mutual assistance and alliance in the building of the country for the prosperity of the people, for the might of the country, and for a just and a civilized society imbued with national identity.

The promulgation of this correct and innovative policy in the socio-economic field has yielded successes, very big, very new and very modern. The infrastructure, especially land communication, water resource and telecommunication, has reached the districts and gradually the villages and hamlets at a pace depending on the specific conditions of each region. As masters of the country, the ethnic groups are talking part in State organs of authority at an increasing rate. The Party and the State pay concern to the training of scientific and technical workers. The number of cadres of ethnic groups possessing university or higher degree is on the increase. The treasure of traditional culture and art of various ethnic groups has been collected, preserved, studied and promoted.

As a result of the successful promulgation of the Party policy on ethnic groups, people of various ethnic groups who have been working together in the cause of national construction and defence are strengthening their solidarity still further for the sake of national development. The achievements as mentioned above constitute the solid foundation for the consolidation of the block of great national union, for the improvement of the people's level of education and their living standards and for the advancement of all ethnic groups.

Implementing Directive N0 83-CD of the Government Council on the identification of ethnic groups throughout the country, the Committee of Social Sciences and the Central Committee of Nationalities of Vietnam submitted a report to the Prime Minister on December 22, 1978. The General Department of Statistics with the agreement of these Committees then issued Decision N121-TCTK/PPCD on March 2, 1979 on the "Nomenclature of Vietnamese ethnic groups" which was to assist in the conduct of the 1979 general census and other statistical and research work.

In this nomenclature, ethnic groups are determined on the basis of three criteria: language, material life and culture, and ethnic consciousness. As at December 1978, they numbered 54, listed both in the order of the alphabet and the population size as follows.

This nomenclature does not include foreign residents.

Vietnam is the home of 54 ethnic groups. They have been living in harmony on the S-shaped land for thousands of years and fostering a rich and diversified culture.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Independence Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Ministry of Posts and Telematics issues a definitive stampset "Vietnamese community of ethnic groups", consisting of 54 values – the largest number in the history of issuing Vietnam's Revolutionary Postage Stamp up to now.

Images on these are the typical characteristics of 54 ethnic groups respectively. on the basic of the “standard” value of King Group selected from all competition works, the artists design stamps for 53 other ethnic groups so as to ensure harmony in terms of the form & the substance as well as presentation style in the whole series.

They are printed in a sheet of 56 (7 stamps x 8 lines). The 54 stamps of ethnic groups are arranged in the alphabetical order and 2 vignettes carrying the national flag, Dong Son Bronze Drum and the wordings: "60th anniversary of the foundation of the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam" "The country of Vietnam is an entity. Rivers can go dry, mountains can collapse but this truth cannot be denied". All the stamps have the same layout & style, like a unique picture book those typical characteristics of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. Date of issue: Aug. 30, 2005.

Country / Post	Viet Nam
Date of Issue	30 August 2005
Primary theme	Mankind (Clothes & costumes) Mankind (Ethnology)
Subject	Vietnamese community of Ethnic groups
Width	26.0 mm
Height	33.0 mm
Denomination	800 VND
Number in set	54 (show set)
Layout/Format	miniature sheet of 54 of 54 designs
Perforations	13.5 by 13.25
Stamp issuing authority	Ministry of Posts and Telematics
Printer	Postal Stamps Printing Company
	Contact the issuing stamp authority

DDR, Germany - Traditional Costumes 1971

DDR, Germany - Women Traditional Costumes 1977