2026 marks the 70th anniversary of EUROPA Stamps, a philatelic initiative launched to foster stronger relationships among European countries and promote lasting peace and unity. First issued in 1956 by six nations—Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the founding members of the European Union—this initiative has grown to include 53 participating postal organizations.
Over the decades, the EUROPA stamp project has united postal administrations, particularly through collaborative designs for milestone occasions, such as anniversaries or acts of solidarity. The initiative has inspired postal operators to celebrate Europe’s rich cultural heritage, creating timeless symbols of shared values and aspirations that continue to captivate new generations of collectors.
Last year, the PostEurop Stamps and Philately Working Group organized an internal competition to select a common design motif for the theme “70th Anniversary of the EUROPA Stamp: United in…”. Guided by shared values such as communication, innovation, cooperation, and common roots, members submitted 15 creative proposals, each presenting a unique vision. Postal operators were invited to vote on their favourite designs.
With votes from 50 postal organizations, we are delighted to announce the winner of the 2026 EUROPA stamp competition: Posti Ltd, Finland. Second place was awarded to ‘’JP BH Pošta’’ d.o.o. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and third place to Post Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
The winning stamp design was created by Mr. Klaus Welp, who shared the inspiration behind his work:
“In today’s turbulent world, there is an increasing need for peace, unity, and a strong community spirit, as well as reliable communication systems. A well-functioning national postal service is a fundamental pillar for democracies, providing security and connectivity for citizens. It was an honour to participate in this design competition and celebrate the 70th anniversary of PostEurop with this small piece of graphic art. As a designer, it is immensely gratifying to know that this stamp will be printed and published in so many European countries and shared across the globe.
At the start of the design process, I explored several visual concepts for the stamp. Together with Tommi Kantola, Design Manager at Posti, we refined one of these concepts into the final, winning proposal. With more than two decades of collaboration and over 120 stamp projects, our teamwork once again resulted in a successful outcome.
The design of the 2026 EUROPA Stamp combines abstract and symbolic elements. The diagonally ascending dotted line represents both the perforation of a stamp and the progressive work of the PostEurop . The seven dots, connected by a straight line, symbolize seventy years of unified effort by postal operators across the continent. The blending gradients and dotted patterns in the background form a cohesive and vibrant surface, reflecting the joyful mix of colours from the European flag and symbolizing the unity of all member nations.”
Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all participants for their contributions to this historic celebration of European unity and philatelic tradition.
“I am very happy that once again we have this unique opportunity to celebrate a milestone anniversary of the EUROPA stamp. The winning design from Posti, Finland beautifully captures the universality of the EUROPA issue through an innovative artistic expression. With gratitude to PostEurop members for their engagement in the common project, I look forward to joint anniversary initiatives in 2026” said Agnieszka Trząskowska, Chairwoman of the PostEurop Stamps & Philately Working Group.
The formal award ceremony will take place during the upcoming PostEurop General Assembly, scheduled for October 8-9, 2025, in Tirana, Albania. In the meantime, EUROPA Stamp collectors and enthusiasts can look forward to the 2025 stamp series centered around the theme “National Archaeological Discoveries.”
The Designer
Klaus Welp is a visual artist with Finnish and German nationalities and works through his company Welp Ltd and Welp Productions.
He has studied different fields of visual communication at the Aalto University Helsinki, the University of Plastic Arts Xalapa Mexico and at the Berlin University of the Arts. During his four year stay in Mexico, he founded the bar ”Tabu” and produced exhibitions, dance-, theatre- and live-music performances. After two years stay in Berlin, he worked for eight years as the art director and photographer for the Finnish culural-political magazine Voima. He also lead the parody advertisement group ”Adbusters Finland”, publishing monthly subverts in the Voima-magazine and in the web. The project culminated in the book and exhibition ”Louserit Vuittuun” and was also awarded with the Salli Journalism Award.
In visual journalism and illustration, he has contributed to all major Finnish newspapers and magazines, and has designed over 100 stamps for the national postal service in Finland. Welp has contributed to numerous NGO-projects and also made various projects for Greenpeace Finland. He has been awarded multiple times both internationally and nationally for his work in illustration, graphic design, stamps and videos. Welp has teached illustration and culture jamming at the Helsinki Aalto University, the University of Tampere and the University of Applied Sciences in Kauniainen. He has been part of many national and international competition juries, for example Lahti International Poster Biennial, the Internation Poster Biennial Mexico and TISDC-Taiwan.
Welp has made music videos, film festival trailers, publicity for cultural events and short documentaries for various purposes. Welp Productions is fully equipped for largescale videoproductions (camera, drone, audio, light), has a greenscreenstudio and a large network of professionals for camera, light, audio, scenography, catering, postproduction etc. Welp’s studio is Located in Helsinki in the former mental hospital of Lapinlahti, that has been converted into sociocultural center during the last years.
www.welp.fi
More about EUROPA Stamps
Since 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation. These special stamps are issued by the European postal administrations/enterprises and bear the EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark. Since 1993, PostEurop has been the responsible organisation for issuing EUROPA stamps and each year, philately experts within the Stamps and Philately working group organise the competition amongst other philately initiatives.
See more information on www.europastamps.eu
About PostEurop
PostEurop is the association which represents European postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal communication market accessible to all citizens and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Its members employ 1.6 million people, operate over 212,000 service and pick-up points across Europe, handling billions of items a year and deliver to over 295 million homes and 48 million companies across Europe.
For more information, go to www.posteurop.org
For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Wee Neumann
Communications Manager
T: +32 2 773 11 92
E: cynthia.wee@posteurop.org