Åland Post has announced the full details of its 2023 Stamp Programme including all of the stamp designs, including a pair of stamps under the year’s theme of “Peace: The Highest Value of Humanity“. These, like the previously-announced issue from Finland, will be released on Europe Day, 9 May. The first stamp portrays the chosen common design, “The New Peace Symbol”, created by Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir from A Designers’ Collective. This was the winning motif in PostEurop’s design competition, submitted by Luxembourg. The second stamp in this set features Åland’s entry in the competion, an image showing a sunrise over the Islands with a peace symbol. This is the first stamp design by Helsinki-based Sofia Pusa, an award-winning illustrator, graphic designer and motion graphics artist. In addition to having a BA in graphic design and illustration, she has a master’s degree in business and worked in strategic branding and communications.

Sofia is known for her nature-inspired illustrations, clever ideas and bold color use. She has produced a wide range of work for clients in several industries, including music festivals, lifestyle, advertising, technology and fashion and her work has received awards from national and international competitions such as ADC Awards (US), Applied Arts Design Awards (CA) and Best of the Year Design and Advertising Awards (FI) among others.

According to Åland Post’s press release,

Peace is the theme for the 2023 “Europa” stamp series. For this issue, PostEurop, the cooperation body for the European postal operators behind the series, chose to arrange a design motif competition among the postal services. Post Luxembourg and artists Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir won the competition. The design shows a new peace symbol, a metaphor for a peacefully integrated, cooperative society in which people embrace each other’s culture. On Europe Day, Åland Post also releases its own design proposal for the competition, created by stamp debuting illustrator Sofia Pusa. A sunrise above the Åland granite cliffs illustrates the peace sign.

The stamps were printed by Cartor Security Printers of France in sheets of 30 stamps each design, the individual panes of 15 separated by a pictorial gutter. They are denominated at the standard Europe rate and had a press run of 45,000 stamps in each design. Further details and images of the sheets and first day covers will be publicized by Åland Post at a later date and I will add them to this post when they become available. For now, please enjoy the screenshots below from the recent video presentation of the 2023 stamps made by Åland Post Stamps & Postal services business area manager Eivor Granberg and Stamps communications officer Gunilla Häggblom: