Tribute to philately.

On 14 October 1997, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) issued a set of six commemorative stamps and a souvenir card on the theme "Tribute to Philately".

Each stamp portrays a stamp within a stamp. The original 1986 stamps on the theme "Philately - The International Hobby" are reproduced in their entirety on the newly adapted stamps. They were designed by Robert Stein (United Nations), who incorporated the 1986 stamps, which had been created by Ingalill Axelsson (Sweden) and engraved by Czeslaw Slania (Sweden).

Even before there were United Nations stamps, collectors were avidly following the work of the new Organization. Many different commemorative covers were made for the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco in June 1945. English philatelists successfully urged the Royal Mail to use special slogan cancels around London publicizing the first United Nations General Assembly. These same collectors soon began saving mail from the United Nations franked with meters using the UN emblem.

Just over 50 years ago, a stamp collector wash head of the Argentine delegation to the United Nations and was elected President of the General Assembly. This man, Mr. Jose Arce, submitted the draft resolution which was instrumental in the creating of the UNPA and the issuance of the first UN stamps in 1951.

Mr. Arce envisaged three purposes for UN stamps. First, they would symbolize the progress of nations in granting an international organization the right to issue stamps, something previously reserved for sovereign States. The new stamps, of course, would also contribute funds for the work of the new Organization. And these small pieces of paper were a powerful communications tool.

UN collector groups formed in the mid-1950s, and their dedicated members have laboured thousands of hours to produce journals and monographs. These publications have educated many collectors about UN stamps, varieties, errors, postmarks and stamps honouring the United Nations and its programmes. Philatelists also have used the envelopes that have carried letters sent from UN workers around the world, including those in peace-keeping missions, to tell the story of this work in very human terms. Un collectors are men, women, students, retirees, and of every age in between. Located around the world, they form an especially diverse family. People in all professions, of all political persuasions and social classes devote themselves to this common pursuit. The staff of the United Nations Secretariat, as diverse a group of workers as can be found anywhere, counts in its number many philatelists. One of the best known was Ralph Bunche, an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.