Poczta Polska (“Polish Post” in English) has won the 2021 Europa competition hosted by PostEurop, a trade association representing public European postal operators.
A total of 53 European postal services entered a stamp in this year’s competition, whose theme was “Endangered National Wildlife.”
“Postal operators once again showed how their creative teams managed to perfectly combine modern printing techniques with beautiful illustrations that deliver an extremely powerful message to current and future generations on the importance of wildlife conservancy and environmental sustainability efforts at large,” said PostEurop Secretary General Botond Szebeny.
Polish Post, Poland’s national postal service since the mid-16th century, won the top prize for its stamp featuring a Eurasian lynx. Designed by Bożydar Grozdew and issued this April, the 3.30-złoty stamp highlights the species’ endangerment due to modern ecological threats.
“Our project symbolically shows the condition of our planet, challenges, threats and the most urgent needs in the field of ecology,” said Polish Post President Tomasz Zdzikot. “Postage stamps are not only carriers of this important message but also small works of art of collector’s and artistic value.”
In last year’s competition, which followed a different voting process, Polish Post won the jury category with a stamp featuring critical 16th-century communication and postal routes.
Next year’s Europa theme is “Stories & Myths.”