At the same time, POST Luxembourg took home a second win with the 2023 EUROPA design motif competition based on the theme “PEACE – the highest value of humanity”.

The results were disclosed during the PostEurop General Assembly in Dublin on 5 October 2022, in which, stamps of POST Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Posti (Finland) and Liechtensteinische Post (Liechtenstein) were revealed as the three most beautiful 2022 EUROPA stamps. At the same time, POST Luxembourg was awarded for the best design motif to be used by all postal companies in 2023 EUROPA issue.

2022 EUROPA Stamps

Having as theme "Stories and Myths", a total of 47 entries took part in 2022 EUROPA stamp competition, depicting traditional stories, especially those concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

The winners were selected in a combined voting in three panels (16,600 votes cast by general public, 37 postal companies and an expert jury) – POST Luxembourg's winning stamp featured Melusina, while Posti's stamp was Goddess Kuutar (Goddess of the Moon) and finally, Liechtensteinische Post's stamp depicted the White Woman.

2023 EUROPA Stamps

2023 EUROPA Stamps theme “PEACE – the highest value of humanity” will be based on a common design motif to be issued by all postal companies in 2023. Out of the 29 entries submitted for the design competition, 44 postal companies participating in the voting have selected the design motif of POST Luxembourg, depicting “The New Peace Symbol”.

Story of the design: The world needs a new Peace symbol, uniting all nations. Cultural differences perchance a barrier for a state of Peace. If only mankind could respect each other's differences by understanding their significance and responding to them with consideration, the world would be a better place. This design shows a visual metaphor for a peacefully integrated, cooperative society in which people embrace each other’s culture. It was inspired by the Celtic Love Knot symbol, with interlocking hearts. The colour palette illustrates all the nations in the world. By adding hands with intertwined fingers, it conveys the message of mutual respect.

The designers Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir from A DESIGNERS' COLLECTIVE respond: “We are extremely honoured that our design has been selected to represent the visual of Peace in over 50 countries. We hope this symbol will be sent all over the globe and make people reflect on what is the highest value of humanity: Peace.”

“I would like to congratulate all Members on their beautiful entries of the 2022 EUROPA stamps. The theme revealed the treasures of European tradition and a new understanding of the common cultural heritage. We encourage all collectors and admirers of EUROPA stamps to explore the national written and imaginative references to the 2022 EUROPA stamps” said Agnieszka Trząskowska, Chairwoman of the PostEurop Stamps & Philately Working Group.

“All submitted entries for the 2023 EUROPA design motif competition presented various artistic interpretations of the issue theme, which, however, share a common understanding of the idea of peace among people. And this unity is the greatest success of the project” continued Agnieszka.

Congratulations to all the winners!

More about EUROPA Stamps
Since 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation. These special stamps are issued by the European postal administrations/enterprises and bear the EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark. Since 1993, PostEurop has been the responsible organisation for issuing EUROPA stamps and each year, philately experts within the Stamps and Philately working group organise the competition amongst other philately initiatives.

See more information on www.posteurop.org/europa

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For more information, please contact:

Cynthia WEE-NEUMANN 
Communications Manager
T: +2 2 773 11 92
cynthia.wee@posteurop.org

André Feio
Communications Assistant
T: +2 2 773 11 54
communications@posteurop.org

POSTEUROP is the association which represents European public postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal communication market accessible to all customers and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Our Members represent 2.0 million employees across Europe and deliver to 800 million customers daily through over 175,000 counters.

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