Stamps of the Fallen (Part 1): On Martyrs, Nations and Postage Stamps (original) (raw)

Identity and the Nation: The Evidence of Postage Stamps

In a recent article on Lobengula's grave and treasure I postulated a growing sense of place and history among the White population of Southern Rhodesia from the late 1930s; 1 and as so often happens, seeing an idea in print makes one realize how little we really know of the subject. So I have begun looking into the iconography of White Rhodesia – not so much the obvious heroes like Rhodes, Jameson and Allan Wilson on whom there is much conventional writing, or the novels of White Rhodesia which is the one aspect that has been well researched, 2 but rather the mundane: the naming of places, streets, and buildings, the stylistic features of architecture, statues, memorials and coinage, holidays, commemorations, anniversaries, and sports – indeed anything that goes to the mental map that people have of their past and their environment. In a later article I had cause to mention the request of the Mzilikazi Family Association in 1968 to have a stamp issued to mark the centenary of Mzilikazi's death. 3 This unique request to commemorate African history was not met but it made me think of the numerous stamps commemorating events and personalities in the White history of this country – hence this amateur detour into postal history as another source of evidence of White identity.

Stamps as iconography: Celebrating the independence of new European and Central Asian states

Geojournal, 2001

Stamps are products or `windows' of the state that illustrate how it wishes to be seen by its own citizens and those beyond its boundaries. The topics of the first issues reveal what messages the state considers most important. The first issues from nineteen new East European and Central Asian states illustrate the importance of maps, flags, coats of arms and prominent religious and political symbols; overt propaganda and ideology were lacking.

Philatelic Remembrances: Stamps, National Identity, and Shifting Memories of WWII in Brazil

Brazil's contribution to the Allies' victory in the Second World War is a source of national pride. Of all the ways Brazilians came together to win the war-such as the Navy's patrolling of the South Atlantic, the tens of thousands of Soldados da Borracha ("Rubber Soldiers") who tapped rubber in the Amazon, the hosting of North American airfields in the North East, and the diplomatic support-the twenty-five thousand strong Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Força expedicionária brasileira, henceforth FEB) that fought in Italy captured the masses' imagination. The FEB was, and is, commemorated in numerous ways: from monuments and memoirs, through comic books and trade cards, to ceremonies and museums. This article analyzes another medium of FEB commemoration: stamps. As one of the most frequently commemorated historical events in Brazilian philately, the FEB emerges as a constant national symbol and a representation of the nation. At the same time, however, FEB stamps tell a story of changing narratives on Brazil's participation in WWII, and with them, represent shifting national identities.