The first Europe stamps

Why a French designer for the Dutch Europa stamps of 1956? Who was Gonzague and why that name on the stamp? Surely it was not customary for the names of designers to be added to Dutch stamps?In 1955, at the initiative of the French Post, a competition was launched for the six countries that together formed the European Coal and Steel Community, the ECSC. These were France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The idea was to create a single common design. The image would be chosen from the submitted designs. The Dutch PTT also participated and requested three graphic artists to submit designs. They were MC Escher, S.L. Hartz en Rein Draijer.

Designs by Escher and Hartz

Escher submitted one design, the map of Europe with the word Europa above it. With his design, he wanted to depict the attempts to create a unified Europe. Hartz sought a solution by combining the two letters F and E into a kind of monogram. The letters stand for Fédération Europénne. In the second design, symbolism and mythology were his starting point: the abduction of Europa by Zeus.

Draijer

Draijer drew a figure holding the flags of the six countries in a kind of torch, while the child on his shoulder held a small flag in his hand depicting 12 stars, the new flag of Europe. In the second design, he showed old Europe with the new shield. A shield that protects the civilization and industry of Europe.

Postal worker design wins

In Paris on March 20, 1956, a choice was made from the designs of the six countries. The design by the French postal worker, an amateur draftsman, Daniel Gonzague, was declared the winner. Based on a black-and-white photograph of Gonzague's design, the detailed execution for the two Dutch stamps was produced by Ben Duyvelshof, an employee of the Department for Aesthetic Design of the State Postal and Telecommunications (PTT). One was 10 cents (postage for domestic letters) and the other 25 cents (postage for letters abroad). The lettering was handled by Pieter Wetselaar, an employee of the printer Joh. Enschedé & Zonen in Haarlem. The other five participating countries also created their designs based on the black-and-white photograph. The Dutch Europa stamps were issued from September 15 to November 14, 1956. Their validity for postage ended on December 31, 1957. It is not often that two stamps appear together on a single piece of mail. In this case, the envelope is franked with a 25-cent stamp for international letter postage and two 10-cent stamps, totaling 20 cents, for air freight. A beautiful combination. Because of the image, the 1956 series of Europa stamps was given the name: Europe Under Construction. We are now more than fifty years later. Is Europe still under construction? Or is the structure collapsing? You would certainly say so when you see the 25-cent stamps on the envelope. Gonzague may have had foresight when he created his design. In any case, his name has been immortalized on the stamps of six different countries.