2021 Faroe Islands stamps start the year by celebrating 150 years of Postal History on the Islands and Denmark. The year will also see a couple stamps for bird collectors. Fourteen subjects have been announced as well as photos for most of the issues. Some of the upcoming topics include:
- 150 years of postal history
- Transplanted – immigration stories
- PUFFINS!
- Royal Visit in the Faroe Islands in 1921 –
- C. Z. Slania 100 Years
- Christmas
Seeing all the Postal anniversaries around the world this year gives me an idea for a new niche to collect – Post Office Anniversaries. Or History of Mail Delivery on stamps.
Faroe Islands stamps are beautiful and tap into a rich vein of Island history and landmarks. Don’t forget to check back periodically for updates on stamp information. If I gather more info on the designers, I’ll drop extra information in. Faroe Islands Post excels in offering detailed information about the history behind each stamp. The write up pages offer a wealth of information about the stamps and designs. Stamps.fo is exceptionally well organised. If you enjoy Faroe stamps, don’t forget to sign up for their newsletter.
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2021 Faroe Islands stamps
January
150 years of Postal History
Special post mark for Torshavn Post office
3 stamps, minisheet, FDC, cancel
Two anniversaries in one – the 150th anniversary of the Danish Postal Services Act (1871) and the 45th anniversary of Faroe Island takeover of the Danish postal administration within Faroe Islands.
“This year the Faroe Islands will celebrate two postal related anniversaries. The first is the 150th anniversary of the Danish Postal Service’s Postal Act of 7 January 1871, when the Faroe Islands became a part of the Danish postal area for the first time.
The second is the 45th anniversary of the Faroe Islands’ takeover of the Faroese branch of the Danish postal administration. On 1 April 1976, Postverk Føroya, later Posta, was established and became responsible for mail deliveries in the Faroe Islands, as well as the issuing of Faroese postage stamps.”
See Stamps.fo for a great writeup on the history behind the stamp and Faroe Island postal service.
“We have chosen to celebrate the two anniversaries with an anecdotal look back in time at fragments of Faroese postal history. These little tales are told on a souvenir sheet containing three stamps.”
Elements found on stamps & souvenir sheet:
-
- The Postal Act of January 7, 1871
- The First Postmen and Their Mailboxes
- The Knapsack
- The Postmen
- “Abbabilur” – Grandfather’s Car
- The Red Jackets March Out
- The March of the Blue Coats
- Slania’s sketch
- Postage sign from Tórshavn
Designer: Kári við Rættará
Kári við Rættará previously designed the 2020 stamp British Field Post Offices in the Faroe Islands.
Release date: Jan 7, 2021
February
Transplanted – immigration stories
6 stamps, a souvenir sheet + two posters, FDC with sheetlet
“Joel Cole, a Faroese American, celebrates the immigrant experience, both as a universal element of
the human story and through the particulars of his own life”
Designer: Joel Cole
Release date: February 19, 2021
Villages: Kirkja & Hattarvík
One Island, Two Faces
2 stamps, FDC with pair of stamps, FDC single stamps, post cards, Maxi cards, booklets, sheets of 20, blocks, cancel
“Fugloy is the Faroe Islands’ easternmost island, but unlike other small islands in the Faroes, it is divided in two settlements, each with their own identity. Both settlements are without a doubt quite old, but while Hattarvík is probably the original name of the settlement,
the name of Kirkja dates back to more recent times. The original name has probably been Kirkjubøstaður or Kirkjubólstaður.
Stamps.fo”
Release date: February 19, 2021
The Eysturoy Tunnel, and Underwater Roundabout
2 stamps, sheets, blocks, FDC with pair, FDC with single stamp cancel, sheets of 20
Photos: Pf. Eysturoyartunnilin and Ólavur Frederiksen. Artwork by local artist Tróndur Patursson
Release date: February 19, 2021
2021 Faroe Islands March
Andrea Árting – equal pay for equal work
1 stamp, FDC single stamp, FDC block, post cancel, poster, plate blocks, sheets
Chairperson for the Tórshavn’s Working Women’s Association for 40 years
“On a personal note, as a child of Tórshavn’s working class up through the sixties I have seldom felt greater honour and joy in designing a stamp than this well-deserved tribute to one of the greatest personalities and most visionary women that the Faroe Islands have ever fostered.
Anker Eli Petersen”
Added information (March 5, 2021) from the Faroe Islands website offers interesting insight into Andrea Árting. The Faroe Island Post office’s write of her offers a great deal of information on her life and work. Worth the visit.
“Equal Pay for Equal Work – At Last!
Andrea Árting’s lifelong dream was finally fulfilled with the labour market wage negotiations in 1977. During tough negotiations with the now 85-year-old trade union leader at the head of the workers’ representatives, the employers finally agreed to equal pay for men and women. The hourly wages were increased incrementally year by year until reaching that of men in 1981.”
Stamps.fo
Designer: Eli Petersen
Artist: Anker Eli Petersen
Petersen’s first stamp was the 1998 Brynhild’s ballad series. Other stamps include 2001 Nordic myths and legends about light and darkness, 2003 Völuspá, 2004 The cruise on “Maria” 1854.
Release date: March 8, 2021
April
SEPAC 2021: The Faroes on Historical Maps II
1 stamp, 2 mini sheet, FDC, cancel
A special SEPAC Folder was released September 14, 2021. It includes mini-sheet of Sebastian Münster’s 1578 map ”Septentrionales regiones” . 
Designer: Kim Simonsen
Release date: April 26, 2021
Europa 2021: Endangered National Wildlife, the Atlantic Puffin
2 stamps, a self-adhesive booklet with six stamps, postcards, FDC single stamps, FDC pair stamps, FDC blocks, cancel
Photos: Thomas Vikre and Jógvan Hansen
Release date: April 26, 2021
SPECIAL CANCEL for Chicago Stamp Show
Special cancel for the August stamp show in Chicago
Release date: August 12-15, 2021
Cattle
Three stamps, 1 FDC with 3 stamps, 3 FDC, cancel
- The Cow and the Infield
- The Cow in the Stable
- The Cow in the Outfield
“Until the 1970s, many Faroese families had a cow in the basement”
Artist: Ole Wich
Release date: April 26, 2021
Royal Visit in the Faroe Islands in 1921
Two stamps, souvenir sheets, blocks, FDCs canceled, uncanceled, cancel, sheets of 20
Commemorating 1921 Faroe Islands visit by King Christian X.
Designers: Álvur Danielsen and Brian Hague
Release date: April 26, 2021
August
C. Z. Slania 100 Years
C. Z. Slania court engraver
One stamp + one mini-sheet
100th anniversary of birth Polish born Swedish court engraver Czeslaw Slania. Responsible for 100 Faroe Island stamp designs
Artist/engraver: Martin Mörck
Release date: Aug 12, 2021
Viking folder 2021
3 souvenir sheets
- Viking Voyages on the Atlantic”, 2002
- “Everyday life in the Viking Age”, 2005
- “Religion in the Viking Age”, 2015
Designer & engraver: Martin Mörck
Release date: Aug 12, 2021
September
Special postal history poster – Bird fowling
Issued in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Faroese post. The poster features a 2018 stamp omanfleyg by Norwegian artist and engraver Martin Mörck.
Designer: Martin Mörck
Release date: September 15, 2021
World Postcard Day – Post Cards
1 postcard
Can be purchased pre-stamped with the August 2021 puffin stamp
Release date: Sept. 27, 2021
Christmas Stamps: Bishop’s Robes
Final stamps in the series church paraments.
blocks & booklet
FDCs
2 stamps, booklet of 6, 2 maxi cards, blocks of 4, 3 FDCs, cancel
Photos: Fotostudio
Release date: Sept. 27, 2021
Ingálvur av Reyni – artist
Artwork:
Tinganes (1947)
“Gjøgnum tíð og rúmdir” – “Through time and space”. Taken from Janus Djurhuus’s poem of the same name.
December 18, 2020, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of visual Faroese artist, Ingálvur av Reyni (1920-2005) in Tórshavn. On this occasion, we will look back at the unique artistic presentations that elevated the visual arts in the Faroe Islands, and all of us, to a higher stage.Ingálvur av Reyni’s influence and significance for the visual arts in the Faroes cannot be overestimated. His influence is consequential, both at a basic and revolutionary level. It revolves, first and foremost, around a long life of artistic endeavours in this country – a life presented with a challenges which are far from simple, being able to survive in the Faroe Islands as a professional visual artist supporting a family, facing all the resulting daily issues and expenses. In addition to this basic role of being an artist providing for a family, Ingálvur av Reyni plays a no lesser role in our art history as an antagonist and a rebel – and as the unique visual artist who resolutely launched the movement towards non-figurative, abstract visual arts in the Faroe Stamps.fo
Release date: Sept. 20, 2021
ILA/Covid-19 in the Faroe Islands
2 stamp on a sheet, FDC, cancel
Designer: Edward Fuglø
Release date: Sept. 20, 2021
2021 Faroe Islands October
Franking Labels – Story Tellers
4 stamps, 5 FDCs, cancel
- Jørgen Frantz Jacobsen (1900 – 1938) Appeared on a Faroe Island stamp in 1988.
- Hans Jacob Jacobsen (1901 – 1987) – better known as Heðin Brú appeared on a 1988 stamp, as part of the same series as Jacobsen
- Dr. Jakob Jakobsen (1864 – 1918) – was featured on a Faroe stamp in 1980
- William Heinesen (1900 – 1991) – Heinesen was featured on the same 1988 series
The 1980s stamps were all engraved by Czeslaw Slania
Designer: Bárður Dal Christiansen
Release date: October 1, 2021
2021 Faroe Islands November
Christmas
5 stamps on a sheet of 15, 3 Christmas cards
Portion of sales goes to Christmas Seal Foundation
Photographer/designer: Harriet Olafsdóttir av Gørðum
Release date: November 4, 2021
Check out more stamp releases for 2021 here:
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