Remembering Ukraine

How do we account for Ukraine’s survival? Determination to survive as a nation? Yes! Skilled tactics? Yes !

Foreign moral support and support with materiel? Yes! Yes, on all three counts.

The world-wide moral support for Ukraine’s determination to survive has been a major factor in its success.

One means by which world governments have raised and maintained their peoples’ support for the plight of Ukraine and the Ukrainians was through the issuing of special stamps supporting Ukraine’s fight.

Among countries issuing special stamps are Austria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Luxembourg (two issues), Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Spain.

The stamps of three countries (Austria, France and Lithuania) have a specific surcharge to raise charity funds for Ukraine.

In two cases, the surcharge is much greater than the value of the stamp itself.

The stamps are typically large horizontal stamps with designs using the colours of the Ukrainian flag and images such as a dove of peace with an olive branch in its beak.

Austria and Spain chose to use a design with two large horizontal bands with blue on top, and yellow on the bottom.

This design not only depicts a vast field with the sky above, but also mimics the design of the Ukrainian flag.

Other designs are more poignant. Lithuania chose a portrait of two people, one blue and one yellow, embracing.

This image sends a strong message of compassion, deep commitment and firm determination.

Countries such as Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland had all been part of the Soviet Union or were satellite states in eastern Europe and have memories of the Cold War era.

For me, the most evocative of these stamps is the one issued by Poland.

It depicts two hands in a firm grasp. The hand on the left is in the Polish colours, and the one on the right is in the Ukrainian national colours.

Underneath the Polish hand is the exclamation (in Polish) ‘We are with you!’, with the same phrase in Ukrainian underneath the Ukrainian hand.

And, so are we all. We are with you!

For more information about stamps, postal history and thematic collecting contact Sheffield Philatelic Society at [email protected].