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Article
Stamps are Part of our Historical Patrimony
STAMPS ARE PART OF OUR
HISTORICAL PATRIMONY
Autumn 2003. The phone rings. Its the secretary of the Belgian Post Philately Commission. In a few words, he asks me to sit on the Commission. I accept enthusiastically, not only due to my personal connection with the postal service as the daughter of a postman, but mainly because of my profession as historian. As a specialist in matters of identity, I know the importance of the postage stamp. When a nation state is born, the postage stamps, along with the flag, the national anthem and the banknotes, are one of the factors by which it affirms itself. Every item of correspondence being sent from any country in the world must carry a stamp which has been issued by that country and identifies it as such.
Thanks to its stamps, a nation becomes a reality, not just in the eyes of its own people, but also to everybody else. With this in mind, I went to my first meeting of the Philately Commission. Of considerable importance among the subject areas put forward for 2005 was that of the 175 years of Belgium. I felt this theme was an excellent opportunity to draw attention to some of the major issues in our history. In actual fact, if people knew the symbolic value of the image of the monarchs shown on the stamps, wouldn't the 175th anniversary be the ideal occasion to remind them about the social issues, the education battles, the two world wars, federalism?
Apart from its normal purpose, a stamp can - and should - help us to learn that little bit extra. We might like a particular stamp, or not, but it can also generate discussion. Questions associated with history are not always easy to evoke by just a postage stamp. How can the question of Congolese independence be brought up without treading on someone's toes, how can the persecution of the Jews be "depicted", how can we make choices which reflect certain commitments while always bearing in mind the necessary diversity and balance?
The totality of the stamps issued by the Belgian State constitute a remarkable legacy. The events we select, the phenomena we want to be remembered, constitute one way of writing the history of Belgium, with her choices, her commitments, her identity and her diversity!
Chantal Kesteloot, member of the Philately Commission since 2004, Researcher with the 'War and Contemporary Society' (www.cegesoma.be) Research and Documentation Centre.
Published in Phila News of Belgiam Post
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