July 14 is Bastille Day in France. 

This national holiday marks the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille prison in Paris. This event was the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution.

To celebrate, three stamps have been picked to represent the day – from France, Wallis and Futuna and Mali. The French stamp is a classic depiction of the attack on the notorious prison, designed by Albert Decaris. The W&F and Mali stamps incorporate the heroic personification of the Revolution, Marianne, who first appeared on a medallion in July 1789. 

Bastille Day July 14, 1789
France issued 1971
Designed by Albert Decaris

National Day (Bastille Day)
Released by Wallis et Futuna in 2018

Marianne and the Storming of the Bastille
(sometimes mislabeled as “woman’s head and the Bastille)
Released by Mali in 1989 for the Bicentenary of French Revolution / PHILEXFRANCE 89
Designed and engraved by Pierre Forget 

Of the three, Mali captured the spirit of the day the best. 

On July 14 of that year, a Paris mob – hungry from a poor harvest and angry at the king and government for their suffering – stormed the Bastille prison, which had become a symbol of the absolute power wielded by the monarch after he confined many of his opponents there. The mob freed a handful of prisoners and seized large stores of weapons in what was a first victory for the people over the “old regime” (l’Ancien Régime), the French monarchy dating from around the 16th century. Bastille Day: A brief history of France’s July 14 national holiday