Cuba postage stamp: May 1

c. 1964, symbolic numeral “1” in honor of Labor Day

(designer unknown)

Israel postage stamp: festivals 5737 dove

depicts Peace with dove and olive branch

from Festivals 5737 (1976) series

The inscription on tab reads: “By three things is the world preserved by Truth, by Judgment, and by Peace” (Ethics of the Fathers I, 18)

designed by Asher Kalderon

Canada postage stamp: constitution

c. 1982, in honor of the Constitution Act.

Please leave a comment if you know the designer of this postage stamp. A guess is that the stamp was designed by Friedrich Peter, but I’m not certain.

Yugoslavia postage stamp: Red Cross tear

c. 1961 designed by Bogdan Kršić

Iran postage stamp: pen nibs

c. 1972, in honor of International Literacy Day

Israel postage stamp: 1967 Israel Defence Forces

c. 1967, part of the Zahal (I.D.F) Victory 1967 series.

Stamp design depicts the emblem of the Israel Defense Forces, commemorating the Six-Day War in the Middle East.

The above stamp was designed by R. Errell. But who designed the original IDF emblem?

Ryukyu Islands stamp: Japan and U.S.A. flags

c. 1972

in honor of United States-Japan Agreement to return Ryukyu Islands to Japan

designed by S. Tamanaha

Japan postage stamp: sun and dragonflies

c. 1923, part of Earthquake Emergency Series

designed M. Yoshizaki

“The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed the warehouses of the Printing Bureau and Communications Ministry (the current Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications). The equipment necessary for producing stamps and most of the stamps which had been stored were lost. As an emergency measure to make up for the shortage of stamps, the government consigned production of stamps to a private corporation. This corporation produced stamps known as the ‘Earthquake stamps.’ The stamps did not have perforations or glue, but a watermark called the ‘earthquake watermark’ was used. The Printing Bureau was reconstructed much sooner than expected and the earthquake stamps were abolished on April 30, 1925.” —Evolution of Japanese Stamps

Please visit the Red Cross or other charitable organizations to help victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Sendai, Japan and other affected regions. Google has launched Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake and W+K Tokyo has set up a person finding aggregator, buji.me/.

United Nations: first U.N. issue 1951, block of four (airmail)

c. 1951

designed by O.S. Mathiesen

Israel Postage Stamps: Exodus of Iraqi Jews to Israel

catalog #504, c. 1970 part of the Operation “Ezra & Nehemia” series. inscription on tab:”…So that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even after off” Nehemia XII, 43 ”20th anniversary of the exodus of Iraqi Jews to Israel””

Designed by The Shamir Brothers