Birds are the object of great interest on the part of human being, both for their pleasant appearance, the vivid color, the varied color of the feather, the melodious song, but also for their customs of great originality. This contributes to the great weight that birds have among the vertebrates, being more numerous in Romania, as species and individuals, than all others in one place.
Birds are some of the few animals in the process of evolution who have been given the opportunity to fly, perhaps the main character they characterize, but here nature also admitted exceptions that make it even more interesting to study them.
For this year, under the title Europa 2019, PostEurop, body of the Universal Postal Union, a United Nations specialized agency, has chosen the theme „National Birds”, a topic greatly appreciated by collectors.
The two stamps of the postage stamps issue illustrate the Golden Eagle and the Eurasian Skylark.
The first stamp, with the face value of Lei 1.80, illustrates the Eurasian Skylark, and the second stamp with the face value of Lei 19.00 represents the Golden Eagle.
In addition, the stamps issue is completed by a special philatelic product with a medal on the obverse in the front the image of The Golden Eagle. Its reverse features, in the foreground, the Heroes’ Cross, designed and erected under the supervision of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie between 1926 and 1928 and dedicated, as it is written on the commemorative plaque, “to the glory and memory of heroes from Prahova who fell in the First World War, the 1916-1918, to defend their country”.
Also, the special philatelic product includes a reproduction of an artistic engraving (2002), author Ion Octavian PENDA.
The Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a songbird widely spread across Romania, being present from April until the beginning of autumn. It prefers the steppe or the plain habitats with abundant herbaceous vegetation, often being encountered in agricultural land areas.
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is considered the ancient Carpathian pride alongside the bearded vulture (Gypaetos barbatus), with a wingspan of 190-225 cm, the Golden Eagle is one of the most renowned species of birds of prey on earth. It is mentioned in a lot of Romanian folk legends and stories carefully gathered by Simion Florea Marian in the Romanian Folk Ornithology, published in Cernauti in 1883, where it appears under other popular names such as: pajura, zgripturoaica, pajura imparateasca, vulturoaica, etc.
The presence of the image of this bird was intertwined with the history and tradition of many peoples, being since ancient times an ensign, a flag and a symbol of empires and civilizations, and often considered as a symbol of luck.
The “mountain vulture” symbol was related to the historical tradition of Romania, starting from the vulture of the first ruling Basarab house, to the coat of arms of the United Principalities during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, to the one after the independence was gained during Carol I’s reign, becoming the symbol of Greater Romania. At present, the Romanian State coat of arms has an eagle in the foreground, having the crown of steel of the kings of Romania on its head, but it is also illustrated in the first quadrant of the coat of arms, one in which the coat of arms of Wallachia appears.
The postage stamp issue Europe 2019. National Birds will be available on Friday, April 12th 2019, in Romfilatelia’s shops network in Bucharest, Bacau, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara and online on https://romfilatelia.ro/store/. The special album, created into limited printing of 387 pieces, reunites in a joint topic, products belonging to philately and numismatics. In the interior of the album there are exposed two valuable collection pieces: the block of two imperforated stamps and the medal on the obverse in the front, the image of the Golden Eagle. The block of the issue is numbered from 001 to 387.
Romfilatelia thanks to “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History for the documentary support given to the development of this postage stamp issue and the photographer Silviu Matei.
For further information, please contact the Public Relation Office:
Tel: 021 / 337 24 42
