The Postal History of ICAO

Trieste Zone A: Diplomatic Conference on International Air Law

Issue date: 01/10/1952

Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 95C (4‑engine with propellers) over the Coliseum ancient amphitheatre in Roma; in the background, poles with flags.

Italian stamp overprinted with “AMG-FTT” (see background for details).

Watermarked.

Corner block of ten stamps. With Control Number 4994.

Watermark in the selvage of the above block: POSTE ITALIANE.

Back of above corner block, showing the watermarks: winged wheel third and round form; watermark #277 according to Scott catalogue.

Block of 4 stamps – Cancelled To Order (CTO) – Dated 4 October 1952.

Variety with aircraft touching the Coliseum.

Variety with a white spot in the centre of lower front part of the Coliseum.

Trial colour overprint: Black instead of blue.

Trial colour overprint: Red instead of blue.

First Day Cover: Venetia cachet Nr. 157 - Blue and red cachet; Pegasus. There is a stamped number on the back of the cover. Serial number 157. Venezia emblem with the férro (meaning iron) of a gondola. Cancelled at PIAZZA DELLA BORSA.

More information on Pegasus can be found by clicking on the following link: The Power of Flight and Peace Symbols.

The silhouette of the winged horse is quite similar to the Pegasus Statue in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II at Milan, Italy.

Back of above cover with hand-stamped number and following inscription: Complete list of Venetia F.D. Covers on “Il Collezionista” Turin.

Same as above, with recommended mail sticker.

First Day Cover. Variety of above cover, with a shift in the red imprint. Cancelled at PIAZZA DELLA BORSA.

First Day Cover cancelled at VIA DEI PICCARDI.

First Day Card cancelled at VIA GIOGIO VASARI.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian and biographer.

First Day Cover with generic aircraft and red halberd on the cachet.

First Day Cover. The aeroplane on the cachet looks like the same as on the stamp, but it is not a good drawing.

First Day Cover with a generic aircraft. The cachet shows Saint Peter’s Square and Basilica in Rome, and the red halberd taken from the Trieste’s coat of arms.

First Day Cover, Terges red cachet. Trieste (Tergeste in Latin) would derive from the Celtic word Terges, meaning market.

First Day Cover – Issued by the Circolo Filatelico Triestino.

First Day Cover – Issued by Associazione Filatelica Triestina – Registered.

First Day Cover – Issued by Associazione Filatelica Triestina. Trieste’s coat of arms with a red halberd. Green, white, and red strips from the Italian flag; the latter flag was officially adopted on 18 June 1946, when Italy became a republic and the monarchy ended after World War II. Cancel at Trieste Centro–Corrispondenze.

First Day Cover. Same as above without indication of the Philatelic Association. Cancel at Trieste 5-Via Armando Diaz.

First Day Cover. Cancel at Via Dei Piccardi. Cancel at Trieste N^o. 4-Via Dei Piccardi.

First Day Cover. Same as above, registered.

Maximum card – Printer: A. Strocchi, Milano.

Commercial cover sent to Dr. É. Pépin, first Director of the Legal Bureau of ICAO.

Franked with two stamps of this issue. Postmark dated 18 October 1952.

Maximum card reproducing the stamp issued by Italy. This maximum card was prepared for the 9^th National Philatelic Meeting held in Roma, from 6 to 8 February 1954. The card bears the Trieste stamp with postmark.

Reverse of the above card.

Background: The stamp from Italy issued on 29 September 1952 for the Diplomatic Conference on International Air Law (see at the following link: Italy - Diplomatic Conference on International Air Law) was overprinted with AMG‑FTT (Allied Military Government ‑ Free Territory of Trieste) by the Allied Military Government of the U.S. and Great Britain.

The Diplomatic Conference on International Air Law, convened by ICAO in Rome, Italy (in the FAO Palace) at the invitation of the Italian Government, met from 9 September to 6 October 1952. This Conference adopted a new air law convention on damage caused by foreign aircraft to third parties on the surface. Delegates or observers representing thirty-two countries and seven international organizations attended it.

More background information on this issue can be found by clicking on: The Rome Convention and its modernization.

The flag of Trieste and the flag of the former Free Territory of Trieste are plain red with the top of a lance in white. The exact name for the lance is halberd (in Italian alabarda), like the lance used by the Vatican Swiss Guard. The coat of arms of Trieste was mainly used in Zone A and was the official coat of arms of the Free Territory of Trieste as mentioned in the constitution of the FTT. This coat of arms is not used officially today; but it is commonly used as general identification for this territory.

Historical introduction of Trieste: From a medieval town, Trieste became a city. In 1719 the Free Port of Trieste was first established; it was a city on the rise and it has been so until WW1. During WW1, Trieste was conquered by Germany (1943), for a few days by Yugoslavia (1945)., and then administered by the allied forces.

The Germans surrendered, and the fighting ended on 3 May 1945. To prevent conflict between the rival Allies, the United Nations took de facto control of Trieste and the surrounding territory in June 1945.

Because there was no immediate resolution to the territorial claims of Italy and Yugoslavia, the United Nations created the Free Territory of Trieste (FTT) on 10 February 1947 by Resolution n.16. It was under the direct supervision of the United Nations Security Council; the Peace Treaty with Italy entered into force on 15 September 1947.

The same day, the FTT was established, it was divided into ZONE A and ZONE B: 1) Zone A, the northern part including the city of Trieste, administered by the Allied Military Government in conjunction with Italy; and 2) Zone B, the southern part, administered by Yugoslavia.

The Allied/Italian administration issued stamps for Zone A from 1947 through 1954 by overprinting Italian stamps “AMG-FTT” or the same letters with the periods after each letter. The abbreviation stands for Allied Military Government-Free Territory of Trieste.

Most Zone B stamps were produced by overprinting “STT Vujna” or “STT Vuja” on Yugoslavian stamps from 1948 through 1964 at which time they were succeeded by Yugoslavian stamps.

In 1954, when the territory was dissolved, Trieste-Zone A stamps were succeeded by stamps of Italy.

The Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved by the London Memorandum of Understanding of 5 October 1954, with the de facto agreement of Italy and Yugoslavia.

In 1975, the bilateral Treaty of Orsino was signed by Italy and Yugoslavia. Italy got most of Zone A, while Yugoslavia gained Zone B, plus the city of Capodistria (today Koper, the fifth-largest city in Slovenia) and several Slavic-majority villages from the former Zone A.

Yugoslavia ceased to exist in 2003. Today, the northern part of the former Zone B is part of Slovenia, and the southern part belongs to Croatia.

Note on the watermarks: There are three types of Winged Wheel watermarks as shown by the following illustration. Type 1 is oval in appearance and can be indistinct. Type 2 is only used for certain recess printed stamps. Type 3 is usually much clearer and is more circular in appearance.