Dubai: Stamps are small but “play a big role” in documenting a nation’s history. In 1840, the first adhesive stamp was created in the UK - 173 years on, it has become an art form that offers a visual catalogue of events past and present.
Abdullah Mohammad Al Ashram, CEO of Emirates Post, said: “Stamps ... are a very good way to document events and history. There are two aspects. One, people want to use it for daily use, and secondly they want to collect it – philately. With both, you can really document history.
“So, at events, you can issue special stamps for use. These are certain events that you want to highlight. These stamps – some are done in-house at Emirates Post, but usually the manufacturing is outsourced, to different parts of the world.”
The organisation annually marks around 12 events with philatelic releases, along with some additional “extraordinary events”.
He said: “We track history here. We also get requests from organisations and from events. The latest one to be published is the one marking 10 years of the Dubai International Film Festival.”
A philatelic book is also released annually by Emirates Post.
Abdullah said: “The philately section comes up with new stamps ... we don’t really market old stamps – we just issue them, manage the production.”
UAE stamps are in high demand globally.
“In my opinion, we have a couple of successful stories. One was the world’s largest portrait made with stamps – a picture of the late President Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. We won a Guinness World Record for it in 2005 (4 x 6 metres) and it really is something to be proud of. The whole thing took about a year and a half to plan and execute. Each stamp is an individual one, and many people participated in putting together the entire collection,” he said.
“Another stamp that broke the Guinness World Record – the biggest single stamp, made for Her Highness Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, wife of the late President Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the mother of the UAE [2013].”
Shaikha Fatima is the Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and Chairperson of the General Women’s Union. The hexagonal stamp, with the words ‘Mother of the Nation’ in Arabic, measures 1.17 x 1.34 metres. It was issued in recognition of her social and political contribution.
Abdullah continued: “Then you had a stamp of the Ghaf tree, which we see all over the desert. It’s a symbol of the UAE. A very unique stamp - in every stamp, there is a seed of the tree in it.”
The Ghaf tree stamp went on to win third place in the ‘Most Beautiful Stamp Competition’ of Grand Prix de l’Exposition WIPA held in the Austrian postal service headquarters in Vienna, recently.
From the ‘Penny Black’ to stamps with pearls in them, the world of philately is no longer a mere form of postal currency - it now truly falls into the realm of postal art.
