Amsterdam 750 years: swinging connections stamps!

The name Amsterdam is derived from the dam that was built in the River Amstel in the 13th century, at the location where Dam Square now stands. Shortly after 1300, the city was granted city rights. Thanks to its harbor, it became the most important trading city in the Netherlands. After the fall of Antwerp in 1585, a great period of prosperity began. Amsterdam eventually became the center of world trade.

Amsterdam 750 years: issue date 2 January 2025

Issue details: graphic designer Michiel Schuurmans from Amsterdam, print run of 115.000 sheets with 5 different stamps, printer Joh. Enschedé in Haarlem.

Stamp analysis

Five almost identical-looking numbers 750 fill the entire page on five different self-adhesive sticker stamps. The Municipality of Amsterdam is using this general 750th city anniversary logo as an umbrella for hundreds of festivities in the city during the period October 27, 2024 – October 27, 2025.

• In the upper left hangs the flag of Amsterdam with three St. Andrew's crosses in three stripes.
• An unbroken garland begins behind the city flag, continues in a single ribbon into the number 750, and ends in a serpentine shape on the right.
• The front or back of this meandering ribbon is alternately visible.

• The colored bands in the numbers 750 (varying in number [3, 5 or 6]) all have their own color scheme. No sharply folded creases have been applied, but rather rounded folds.
• The perforation edges of the self-adhesive stamps follow the contours of the number 750, except at the top of the city coat of arms.
• The year, country name, and value indication with 1 & a set square are incorporated into the overall design inconspicuously.

Interesting, substantive, typographic stamps with expressive power.

The press release pays little attention to distinctive features of Amsterdam hidden within the stamp design, even though appealing characteristics have found their way into the playfully cheerful, elegantly executed stamps.

• Decorative elements, such as the curved rounded edges of walls on buildings like Het Schip (constructed in the Amsterdam School architectural style), are present in the colored strips of the numbers.
• The richness of color in the geometrically meandering number patterns refers to the multicolored nature of the Amsterdam population, which consists of no fewer than 170 nationalities.
• The number of colored stripes varies per stamp. The numbers on the top stamp consist of only three stripes and two colors, whereas all numbers on the remaining stamps sometimes have an equal number of stripes or count five or six. Consequently, the stripes can also contain more colors. These differences in stripes and colors refer to the growth of the Amsterdam population over the centuries. The first stamp represents the Amsterdam population during the period of its creation. At that time, there were only a few foreigners. Subsequently, the number of inhabitants of the trading city grew, sometimes explosively during a certain period, such as with the fall of Antwerp in 1585.
• The subordinate placement of country name, year, square, and St. Andrew's crosses between the numbers corresponds to that of tattoos, in which the name of a loved one is sometimes also incorporated unobtrusively.

• Serpentines? To enhance the festive spirit, one end of a colorful, narrow ring of paper is tossed through the air while the other end is held. Upon unrolling, a cheerful, winding color effect emerges. A letter writer can brighten up an envelope with one of the four self-adhesive, winding serpentines. In the accompanying image, the serpentines (corresponding in color to one of the numbers) provide basic support for the numbers, in contrast to the stamp sheet. The sheet is a businesslike, red-dominant, and unappealing arrangement of horizontal stamp stickers and vertical serpentines.

Realistic imagery & abstract representation. Between the 700-year Amsterdam stamp and the 750-year Amsterdam stamp, there is a similarity between the visual procession of Amsterdammers and the abstract typographic procession from Amsterdam.

Limited typographic possibilities – extensive visual technical choices!

* Word-language: with 26 letters, 10 digits (in various versions), and a number of punctuation marks, a tremendous amount can be expressed textually. With planes, shapes, lines, stripes, and colors, even more can be expressed visually in a particularly varied, unexpectedly expressionistic, and artistically creative manner. This stamp sheet, as a top design, is a shining example of this. Poems: compressed word language * Visual language: As soon as seemingly hidden details of the stamp design are given words, they are seen and, subsequently, perhaps even appreciated.