More WorldPride issues

From July 25 to August 8, 2026, WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 will take place in the capital, organized by the Pride Amsterdam Foundation. WorldPride is a global event held every few years in a different city each time. During WorldPride Amsterdam 2026, countless activities will take place, including parades, street parties, concerts, film festivals, and conferences. The two-week event concludes on August 8 at Museumplein with the WorldPride March and the WorldPride Closing Concert. In addition to a colorful sheet (see Bate's blog), there are also the issues: FDC, prestige booklet, and coincards (from KNM).

WorldPride Amsterdam 2026

FDC and Prestige booklet

From July 25 to August 8, 2026, WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 will take place in the capital, organized by the Pride Amsterdam Foundation. WorldPride is a global event organized every few years in a different city. Its goal is to promote the visibility and awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues internationally. LGBTQIA+ is the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual, while the + stands for all other identities. The first WorldPride took place in Rome in 2000. Amsterdam was awarded the organization of the event this year. An important consideration was that 25 years ago, on April 1, 2001, the city hosted the first official same-sex marriage, officiated by then-Mayor Job Cohen. Numerous activities will take place during WorldPride Amsterdam 2026, including parades, street parties, concerts, film festivals, and conferences. The two-week event concludes on August 8 at Museumplein with the WorldPride March and the WorldPride Closing Concert.

The visual identity of WorldPride has been applied in a unique way on this year's WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 stamps. Each of the 5 identical stamps features 4 diagonal stripes at a 30-degree angle. In each stripe, graphic designer Martin Cadwallader has provided a kaleidoscopic interpretation of the colors and shapes of a different flag from the LGBTQIA+ community. Beneath each stripe is a separate graphic layer featuring motifs familiar from clothing and ceramics. These motifs originate from the Netherlands and from regions elsewhere in the world from which groups of people have come to our country: Indonesia, Suriname, the Antilles, Morocco, and Turkey. On the top margin of the sheet, the 4 diagonal stripes reappear in a large format, but with different cutouts of the applied shapes, colors, motifs, and patterns. The logos of PostNL and WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 appear on the bottom margin. Between the logos, it is commemorated that April 1, 2026, marks exactly 25 years since the first same-sex marriage was celebrated in Amsterdam.

British designer Martin Cadwallader (Birmingham, England, 1976) studied philosophy at the University of Southampton from 1993 to 1997. In his spare time, he played in a band, where he was also responsible for the design of the website, album covers, and flyers and posters to announce performances. After graduating, he did not pursue a career as a professional philosopher, but instead worked for various agencies in England as a programmer, animator, digital designer, and brand identity designer. In 2014, he moved to Amsterdam, where he became design director at the graphic design agency VBAT, working for clients including de Bijenkorf, Concertgebouw, ING, PostNL, Pride Amsterdam, and WPP. Since 2018, Cadwallader has been working for himself as a brand identity and motion graphic designer, currently based in Lichfield, England.

Source: PostNL.

 

Coins

What began as a fight for equal rights grew into a world first. On April 1, 2001, the Netherlands made history: it became the first country in the world to make it possible for two people of the same sex to marry. This year, we are celebrating this milestone in a special way: the 25th anniversary of the opening up of marriage Vijfje Zilver Proof, minted by the Royal Dutch Mint on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

The opening up of marriage did not come out of the blue: it was the result of a years-long struggle for equal rights. As early as the 80s, the first calls for equal marriage emerged: more and more organizations and activists dedicated themselves to the cause. In 1994, Boris Dittrich (D66) was the first to propose opening up marriage. This proposal was not accepted, but the tone was set. Four years later, a significant step was taken with the introduction of registered partnerships. However, this still means that couples cannot bear each other's surname and are not yet legal heirs of their partner.

On December 21, 2000, a law was passed amending Book 1 of the Civil Code. From then on, Article 30 stated: “A marriage may be entered into by two persons of different or of the same sex.” On January 11, 2001, the law was officially published. On April 1, 2001, four couples exchanged vows! The Netherlands made history, and many countries followed in the years that followed.

25 years of opening up marriage has now been immortalized on a colored coin. It was designed by Koos Breen. Breen took a quote from Job Cohen as the starting point for his design: “We have… come to the realization that an important union like marriage must be open to everyone.” Consequently, the word 'everyone' occupies a central place in the coin design. On the reverse, it appears separately on the right-hand side. Breen also made use of two important symbols: connected rings as a symbol of marriage and the rainbow as a symbol of the LGBTI+ community. The word 'everyone' is therefore placed within the colored rainbow, and the connected rings also encircle this word. The same circular elements reappear on the obverse, where the portrait of King Willem-Alexander is depicted. The Silver Five-Euro coin comes in a triptych package with additional information about the subject.

 

Source: knm.nl.

 

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

WorldPride Amsterdam, July 25 to August 8, 2026: https://pride.amsterdam/

25 years of opening up marriage, coins from KNM:

https://www.knm.nl/nederland/herdenkingsmunten/25-jaar-openstelling-huwelijk

Previous gay blogs: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/gay/