Åland Stamp among most Beautiful in Europe 2017

Aland – Once again, an Åland Post stamp motif has met with success. This year’s Åland Europa stamp featuring the Kastelholm castle scored an honorary silver award in the jury panel contest for the best designed 2017 Europa stamp. The result was announced at the awarding ceremony in Brussels on 16 September.

Every year, PostEurop arranges a competition for the best designed stamp in the Europa stamp series. The common 2017 theme was Castles, and the stamp motifs were scored by a jury panel as well as judged by an online public vote.

The professional jury panel comprised independent graphic design experts and philately specialists from various European countries. The Europa stamp from Finland won the first prize while the Åland and Italian contributions shared the second place. Liechtenstein came third.

Åland Post issued the stamp featuring the Kastelholm castle in winter attire on 9 May 2017. Photographed by Åland photographer Niclas Nordlund, Kastelholm castle is the only medieval castle in Åland, dating back to the end of the 1300s. The well preserved castle ruin is located in the municipality of Sund in Åland.

Anita Häggblom, Director of Åland Post Stamps as well as Chair of PostEurop’s Stamps & Philately Working Group, attended the prize ceremony in Brussels, accepting the award from General Secretary of PostEurop Botond Szebeny, who also acted as Chair of the expert jury.

PostEurop, the trade association representing European public postal operators, has been issuing Europa stamps since 1956. The stamp themes testify of the common roots, culture and history of the various European countries and territories. The popular Europa stamps must bear the special EUROPA logo.