A blond youth travels across the universe and visits Earth. He meets a pilot in distress in a desert and encounters a snake and a fox. The gripping story and dialogue revolve around the major themes of life: friendship, love and peace – as well as sustainability, loneliness and death. “The Little Prince” continues to enchant millions of people around the world to this day. With over 200 million copies sold and translations into more than 500 languages, the work of the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of the most successful books in the world. The philosophical fairy tale with its tender illustrations is sprinkled with pearls of eternal wisdom. One of the most well-known is: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” This literary classic was first published in 1943. Now, some 80 years later, “The Little Prince” has also been immortalized on a postage stamp, which depicts the book’s cover featuring the little hero, who gazes – as he so often does – thoughtfully up to the sky.

Rubber duck: a cheerful splash of colour

Swiss Post is also dedicating a stamp to the cheerful and good-natured rubber duck. The popular duck figure has been a familiar item in the world’s bathtubs for a long time. It is available in every conceivable shape and size. The largest collection in the world is said to comprise over 5,600 different ducks. The new stamp shows the yellow duck with a letter under its wing. This cheerful splash of colour also boasts two special details: the stamp appears in the die-cut shape of a duck and has a rubbery effect, produced by a special relief varnish.

A statement against food waste

Plants grow in a host of varieties and shapes in our fields. But far too often, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables fail the strict controls and do not even make it to the supermarket. There is also a lot of other food wastage. According to the WWF, Swiss households throw away an average of over 600 francs’ worth of food per year. The “Sustainability – Food” stamp serves as a statement against this unsustainable behaviour. The design depicts three unconventionally shaped potatoes from the Albulatal – they may look unusual, but they still taste delicious.

The latest stamp issue also completes one of our stamp series. In 2020, Swiss Post realigned its traditional commitment to art based on three pillars. The “Art collection” and “Art in the Periphery” pillars have already been immortalized by Swiss Post on their own stamps, and the last pillar, “Art in architecture”, is now being honoured. The design of the stamp is a concrete wall. It underlines the important role this material has played in Switzerland’s architectural history. If you run your finger over the stamp, you can actually feel the concrete. And indeed, the ultra-matt lacquer is mixed with cement pigments.

You can find information on other designs in the current issue and details about the new stamps in the latest edition of the collector’s magazine “Focus on stamps” or at swisspost.ch/stamps.

Information

Erich Goetschi, Media Spokesperson, +41 58 341 37 42, presse@swisspost.ch