In the first half of 2022, Posti will issue seven new postage stamp publications with a total of 27 different designs. The stamps will be issued in two batches on January 19 and April 27.
January themes include Fazer Blue, Valentine’s Day and spring
The January stamps celebrate Fazer Blue, Finland's favorite chocolate, which first went on sale in 1922. Designed by Paula Salviander, the delicious postage stamp focuses on the essentials: a newly opened Fazer chocolate bar, with chocolate pieces extending out of the stamp. The blue color of Fazer is a registered trademark that serves as a symbol and name for the chocolate. The Fazer Blue 100 Years stamp sheet has 10 domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
The Valentine's Day stamps have been designed by illustrator Leena Kisonen. "My work is characterized by Scandinavian design style, exceptional color combinations and playfulness. Together with Posti, we strived for this spirit for the postage stamp illustrations depicting friendship, joy and sharing," Kisonen explains. Buddies will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing five different domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
Minna Lehväslaiho, the postcard artist, has designed joyful postage stamps suitable for spring and Easter. "With my designs, I want to depict the joy of spring and the season when the world seems to wake up and burst in colors after a long dormancy during the bleak winter. My designs include a cat, owls, birches, flowers, a clothesline and a swing, among others. I believe that with these stamps the sender of a card or letter also sends joy to the recipient," Lehväslaiho says. Joy of Spring! will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing two different domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
Myths, Finnish baseball, award-winning congratulatory stamps and classic art in April
This year's theme in the Europa postage stamp series is stories and myths. In its Europa stamps, Posti presents two goddesses mentioned in Kalevala poems. On the stamps, the goddesses Päivätär and Kuutar spin gold and silver thread from the rays of the sun and moon, from which gold and silver clothes are woven. The stamps are designed by the illustrator Emmi-Riikka Vartiainen. Europa: Stories and myths will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing two different international no-value-indicator stamps.
The first official Finnish baseball (pesäpallo) matches were played in Finland in 1922. In honor of this Finnish national game developed by Tahko Pihkala, Posti issues stamps illustrated with photographs that depict typical situations in the game of pesäpallo. The stamps have been designed by Juuso Kemi, a creative director who is a self-confessed pesäpallo enthusiast. The Finnish Baseball 100 Years miniature sheet contains four domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
Congratulatory stamps created as a result of the postage stamp design competition held in spring 2021 will also go on sale in April. As many as 570 proposals were submitted to the competition, which was jointly organized by Posti, Grafia and Kuvittajat ry. Five winning stamp designs were selected by an expert jury. The stamps are Coffee and Cake by Tuomas Ikonen from Lemi, A Bouquet for You by Anna Kesäniemi from Helsinki, Together by Jenni Tuominen and Jukka Pylväs from Porvoo, Flower Delivery by Noora Katto from Tampere and Just Add Water by Nelli Ahosola from Lappeenranta. Paula Salviander was responsible for the graphic design of the stamps. Congratulations will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing five different domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
April will also see the publication of the second part of the series of rolls of stamps presenting Finnish art classics. Beloved classic artworks were again chosen for the stamps. This time, the stamps present the most famous works of Albert Edelfelt, Tyko Sallinen, Helene Schjerfbeck, Pekka Halonen, Ellen Thesleff, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Elin Danielson. The graphic design is by Ilkka Kärkkäinen. Finnish Art Classics II will be issued as a 100-stamp roll that includes eight different domestic no-value-indicator stamps.
