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The Nordic Swans Turn Fifty |
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Postal History Ephemera Curiosa Philatelic Art Mews
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On 30th October 1956, Denmark issued for the first time ever stamps in a joint issue with four other countries. The creation of the stamps lasted five years! Already in 1951, the idea of a Nordic stamp, featuring five flying swans as the common motif, was conceived by the Association Norden and submitted to the five Nordic Post Directorates General. On the Conference of the Nordic Postal Association in March that same year a general consensus of accepting this idea was reached, but for practical reasons the idea had to be postponed until later. In order to obtain a certain quality and uniformity between such stamps, on the one side the individual countries had to reach consensus about which printing house should produce the stamps, and on the other side the philatelic characteristics of the individual countries should be maintained. Finally, the postal Directorates General involved wanted the individual governments' acceptance of the idea. In short, the suggestion was sent to a Committee. The governments involved eventually approved, and later that year it was decided that the design of the stamp should be based on the a drawing by a selected artist from each of the participating countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
The motif of the swans originated in a poem by the Danish poet Hans Hartvig Seedorff Pedersen, "The Nordic Swans" (1946), celebrating the free community in the five countries which is symbolized by five flying swans [Whooper Swans - Cygnus Cygnus]. On the Conference of the Nordic Postal Association in 1953, drafts for the design had been submitted by the Danish artist Viggo Bang, the Finnish artist Signe Hammarsten-Janson, the Norwegian artist Johs. Haukland and the Swedish artist Mark Sylvan. Iceland participated with an illustration by the artist Jon Stefánsson, see images above. But the delegates could only make a final decision after having seen a test print in the actual stamp size. The test prints were to be done by the Swedish Stamp Printers, but would only be available for the next conference in September 1954. Eventually, the Danish contribution was chosen for the final stamp, and it was decided that the stamps (two from each of the participating countries) should be ready for delivery from the Swedish Stamp Printers by the second half of 1956. Both test prints as well as the final stamps were engraved by the Swedish chief engraver Sven Ewert.
It is interesting to note that in spite of the fact that all stamps are done by the same engraver and printed at the same printers, they appear slightly differently in size and colour depth. Another difference is that the Swedish stamps are coil stamps, whereas the rest are printed in ordinary sheets of 50. On 1st October 1956 it was announced by each of the five Nordic countries, that " ... to emphasize the Nordic Community and the importance of the Nordic co-operation in different fields, on 30th October 1956 will be issued jointly [...] stamps which share the same motif ...". At three later occasions the Nordic countries have issued jointly in 1969 (Viking Ships), in 1973 (the Nordic House in Reykjavik, and in 1977 (Water Lilies on clean water - environmental co-operation).
For succeeding years the Nordic Post Offices changed the regulations for joint issues. As per 1980 joint issues would only take place each third year, now with individual, national motifs related to a joint theme. In 1980 the theme was Ancient Applied Arts, in 1983 Tourism, in 1986 Sister Cities, in 1989 National Costumes, in 1992 The Philatelic Exhibition NORDIA, in 1995 Tourism, in 1998 Marine and Navigation, etc. |
