Last time I posted Cyprus’ stamps was way back in 2023. Somehow I missed them in 2024 and well, 2025 was a dead loss as far as work was concerned. HOWEVER … I have already laid out and prepped the stamps for last year and you should see it up in a few days. Just need to plunk in a bit more detail.

Speaking of details, Cyprus Post isn’t very good at supplying designer names. I’ve trolled through my usual sources and came up mostly empty. Regardless, it’s still a good, strong program with some decent designs. So kudos to the mysterious designers. 

Enjoy 
Catpaw

January

Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026

1 stamp, souvenir sheet, sheetlet of 8, FDC, cancel
offset

Designer: Manolis Emmanouel 

Release date: January 7, 2026

Refugee Fund 2026 Imprint

1  stamp
offset

This issue is an important feature in the annual Cyprus collection. 

“For 49 years a tearful child, curled up in front of the barbaric barbed wire fence of shame has accompanied every parcel we send through the Post Offices in and outside Cyprus while sending to the whole world the message of the ‘Nightmare’ that appeared and the ‘Medes’ that crossed the 20th of July 1974 bloodying the sacred soil of our homeland,”   Christos Zanettou, Mayor Ayia Napa 
Refugee stamp exhibition opens in Ayia Napa | Cyprus Mail (cyprus-mail.com)

Each year they use this devastating image to raise funds for refugees, using a different colour for each year. You can read more about them on the intro I wrote for the 2023 program. 

Artist: Alevizos Anastasios Tassos (1914-1985)

Release date: January 7, 2026

March

75 Years of Service to Fellow Citizens by the Cyprus Red Cross

1 stamp, sheetlet of 8, FDC, cancel
offset

The Red Cross launched in Cyprus in 1950, as part of the British Red Cross society. When Cyprus declared it’s independence the it was reformed as the Cyprus Red Cross.

Release date: March 26, 2026

Centenary of the Insurance Association of Cyprus

1 stamp, sheetlet of 8, FDC, cancel
offset

Release date: March 26, 2026

200 Years Since the Exodus of the Free Besieged of Messolonghi 1826-2026

1 stamp on souvenir sheet, FDC. cancel
offset

This excerpt is a bit lengthy, but captures the events vividly.  With deep thanks to the The Tserpeli Society for their publication. 

The Exodus of Messolonghi, which took place on the night of 10 April 1826, is remembered as one of the most tragic and heroic moments in modern Greek history. During the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), the small town of Messolonghi became a bastion of resistance against the might of the Ottoman Empire. The town endured three major sieges, but it was the third and final siege that sealed its place in history.

By April 1826, the defenders and residents of Messolonghi had been besieged for nearly a year. Food was desperately scarce, disease was rampant, and the people were suffering immensely. Despite repeated attempts to break the siege or receive external support, reinforcements never came. Rather than submit to certain death or enslavement at the hands of the Ottomans and their Egyptian allies under Ibrahim Pasha, the townspeople made a collective and fateful decision: to attempt a mass breakout.

Under the cover of darkness, approximately 7,000 people—including fighters, women, and children—gathered to flee the encircled city. Their plan was to force their way through the enemy lines and escape into the surrounding mountains. Tragically, the Ottomans had been forewarned of the exodus by a traitor, and what followed was a massacre. Thousands were killed in the chaos; many who were captured were executed or sold into slavery. Those who remained behind, including the elderly and the wounded, were also slaughtered when the enemy entered the town.

Despite its military failure, the Exodus of Messolonghi was a profound moral and symbolic victory. It shocked the European public and intensified international support for the Greek cause. The desperate courage of the Messolonghi defenders became emblematic of the wider struggle for Greek independence and freedom from centuries of Ottoman rule.
https://tserpeli.org/the-archive/the-exodus-of-messolonghi/

The exodus from Messolonghi has been portrayed a number of times on Greek stamps but only once before by Cyprus Post. 

 
Monument of the Cypriot Fighters (1821) in Messolonghi, 2021 as part of their
Greek Revolution, 200th Anniversary (2021) set

Artist: Theodoros Bryzakis (1814 or 1819 – 1878)
Bzyzakis was a leading painter of historic scenes. 

After his father was executed by the Turks in 1821, he was placed with his brother Euthymios at the Orphanage of Kapodistria in Aegina. In 1832, possibly through the mediation of Ludwig Thiersch, he moved to Munich, where he studied at the “Panellenion,” the Greek educational institution founded by Ludwig I for the orphans of the Revolution’s fighters.
https://www.nationalgallery.gr/artist/vryzakis-theodoros/ In Greek, but has English translations. 

He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and went on to be a lecturer at the school.

Painting: The Exit of Mesolongi 1853 currently held by the National Gallery in Greece

Release date: March 26, 2026

May

100 Years of the International Federation of Philately

1 stamp on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel
offset

The Federation International Philately was formed 1926 in Paris, France. 

The first postage stamps had barely appeared before the desire began to collect these miniature art works. Foreseeing a profitable trend, stamp dealers began settling into the larger cities, from 1860 on.   Price lists were sent out. The first, albeit rather sketchy, catalogues appeared. However, as early as 1864, J.P. Moens, a Brussels publisher and stamp dealer, issued such an outstanding catalogue that Giulio Bolaffi of Turin found it appropriate to publish a new edition in 1968.  Moens’ journal, Le Timbre Paste, which appeared monthly starting in January 1863, also belonged among the best of this period.
(Reissued in 1970 by Firma Giulio Bolaffi, Turin.)

The first postage stamp exhibitions were put on by dealers within their shops, for propaganda purposes. This gave collectors the urge to show their collections to the public in their own frames.Through these circumstances, the first stamp societies developed. (The first society which was devoted exclusively to stamp collecting was founded in 1866
in Canada.) Gradually, these societies united into national federations ( the first federation in Belgium was born in 1890 and the Swiss federation followed in 1890).
Origin and Evolution of the FIP, Leon Putz  p 3

Release date: May 11, 2026

Europa (C.E.P.T) 2026 – Europa Stamps, 70 Years
United in … 

1 stamp, sheetlet of 8, FDC, cancel
offset

For EUROPA’s 70th anniversary, the committee that oversees designs opted for a unifying common design. 

“In today’s turbulent world, there is an increasing need for peace, unity, and a strong community spirit. A well-functioning national postal service is a fundamental pillar for democracies, providing security for citizens. It was an honour to participate in this design competition and celebrate the 70th anniversary of PostEurop with this stamp. It gratifying to know that this stamp will be printed and published in so many European countries,” says Klaus Welp. 
https://www.posti.com/en/news-and-releases/europa-stamp-design-competition

Some countries are including both this design and their own interpretation, but Cyprus opted to stay with artist Klaus Welp’s stamp. 

Artist: Klaus Welp – common design stamp
Welp is a familiar face among Finnish stamp collectors, designing over 100 stamps since his first in 2008. 

Release date: May 11, 2026