The Postal History of ICAO

United Nations : ICAO Safety in the Air

Issue date: 12/06/1978

United Nations New York issue.

The text "Safety in the Air" enclosed by diamond shaped multicoloured bands against a backdrop of blue sky high above the clouds.

The selvage shows the United Nations logo, with the year of issue (1978) and the English acronym of the Organization (ICAO).

United Nations Geneva issue.

Two jet airliners passing each other in predetermined flight paths.

The selvage shows the United Nations logo, with the year of issue (1978) and the French acronym of the Organization (OACI).

Full sheets of 50 stamps (5x10) with marginal inscriptions – New York.

Full sheet of 50 stamps (5x10) with marginal inscription - Geneva. Each row of 5 stamps at $0.70 is valued at $3.50; the margin gives the cumulative price of the rows from $3,50 to $35 (with an increment of $3,50). The cost of each row of 5 stamps is indicated in the margin of 3,50, 7,-, 10,50, etc. to 24,50, 28,-, 31,50, 35,-. Some of the values are replaced by the UN emblem with OACI and 1978.

Full sheet of 50 stamps (5x10) with marginal inscription - Geneva. Each row of 5 stamps at $0.80 is valued at $4; the margin gives the cumulative price of the rows from $4 to $40 (with an increment of $4.00). The cost of each row of 5 stamps is indicated in the margin of 4,-, 8,-, 12,-, etc… to 28,-, 32,-, 36,-, 40,-. Some of the values are replaced by the UN emblem with OACI and 1978.

UN New York – Blocks of 4 stamps. Hand roller cancel dated 13 June 1978 AM.

The complete cancel shows the UN Buildings in New York at the right and left sides of the UN wreath.

Complimentary souvenir folder given to guests during special events or exhibits; the hardboard folder measures approximately 7.5 x 4.75 inches.

Imperforate pairs and blocks.

Plate proofs for Geneva set, lacking orange printing for lower airplanes, margined at bottom with imprints.

Plate Proofs for Geneva: colour tests.

Progressive plate proofs for New York 13-cent, lacking black printing (centre text), margined at the top side with margin imprints.

Proof pair without inscriptions in the centre.

Printing freak (variety): a colour shift in the main design creates white lines on the right and right-bottom sides of the ornaments (misalignment of colours during the printing process).

Approved artist´s drawing (on 1 June 1977) for 13-cent design by Cemalettin Mutver (Turkey). Acrylic and gouache on card mounted on cardboard, 177x278 mm.

Photo proofs.

Complete set of the four stamps of the offices in Geneva and New York in issued colours with simulated perforations. Imperforate Proofs affixed into folder 'Fournier S/A' with handstamp 'DIE PROOF APPROVED …. U.N. POSTAL ADMINISTRATION' and signature dated '25 Oct 77'.

Imperf pairs.

Imperf block of 12 stamps (lower part of the sheet with inscriptions). Back with security fingerprints.

Progressive Proofs for the UN New York issue.

Album page (excerpt) from a collection called Die geschichte der Luftfahrt which is in 2 Lindner albums. Sieger probably issued those albums. Text in German.

Philatelic notice issued by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) – New York issue.

Philatelic notice issued by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) – Geneva issue.

United Nations New York - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set – Front page.

United Nations New York - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set – Middle page.

United Nations New York - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set – Last page.

United Nations Geneva - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set – Front page.

United Nations Geneva - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set - Middle page.

United Nations Geneva - 1978 Souvenir Folder Year Set - Last page.

ICAO News Release PIO 4/78 announcing the issue of the UN stamps related to ICAO. Note that the sheets of 50 stamps are actually vertical.

Artist drawings of proposed (and not selected) designs:

Design by Horacio Alvarez Boero, Argentina, showing airplane and balloon. Acrylic on art board.

Design by Angel Medina Medina, Uruguay.

Was proposal #24.

Back of the design by Angel Medina Medina, Uruguay. Was proposal #24.

Design by Angel Medina Medina, Uruguay.

Acrylic on card.

Design by Olav Mathiesen, Denmark: Pilots in the cockpit of an airplane. Was proposal #52.

Back of the design autographed by Olav Mathiesen,

Was proposal #52.

Design by Michel Banaglia, Switzerland.

Acrylic on art board.

Design by D. Lif, Israel.

Acrylic and collage on acetate and cartboard.

Background: The year 1978 celebrated the 75^th anniversary of the first engine-powered flight by the Wright Brothers. This occasion prompted the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) to issue two sets of stamps (with US and Swiss denominations) to praise ICAO’s achievements over the past three decades.

Over thirty different first day covers were issued with the UN stamps, either officially by the UN or UNPA or by private designers. Several of those covers are shown hereafter; the cachet makers are provided whenever identified.

UN Official cachet (Open hand and paper aircraft on blue background). Cover designed by Brazilian Artist J.C. Pirralho in a competition organized by the Art Museum of São Paulo; New York stamps and cancel

UN Official cachet (Open hand and paper aircraft on blue background). Cover designed by Brazilian Artist J.C. Pirralho in a competition organized by the Art Museum of São Paulo; Geneva stamps and cancel

Back of the UN cover with official cachet. The text in French highlights the name of the Brazilian Artist J.C. Pirralho who won the competition organized by the Art Museum of São Paulo.

United Nations Geneva - First Day Cover - 12 June 1978

Official Geneva cachet; Cover designed by Brazilian Artist J.C. Pirralho in a competition organized by the Art Museum of São Paulo

United Nations Postal Administration; Artist Cemalettin Mutver design; Certificate of authenticity signed by Clayton C. Timbrell, Assistant Secretary General, and Ole Hamann, Chief United Nations Postal Administration, on the reverse.

See Footnote 2 for special insert

United Nations Postal Administration cover; Artist Tomas Savrda design; Certificate of authenticity signed by Clayton C. Timbrell, Assistant Secretary General, and Ole Hamann, Chief United Nations Postal Administration, on the reverse

Back of above covers (English text for the New York covers)

Back of above covers (French text for the

Geneva covers)

Issued by the United Nations Postal Administration; Aristocrat cachet; Air Traffic Controller

Issued by the United Nations Postal Administration; Aristocrat cachet;

Groundmarshaller directs jet to gate in night landing

Cachets cachet

ArtCraft cachet with Boeing 747; Black.

Error: The ICAO emblem shown on this FDC is an early-unofficial emblem in use for some time in 1954 and 1955, with longer wings set lower on the globe than on the current emblem.

ArtCraft cachet with Boeing 747; Brown.

Error: The ICAO emblem shown on this FDC is an early-unofficial emblem in use for some time in 1954 and 1955, with longer wings set lower on the globe than on the current emblem.

ArtCraft cachet with Boeing 747; Black.

Error: The ICAO emblem shown on this FDC is an early-unofficial emblem in use for some time in 1954 and 1955, with longer wings set lower on the globe than on the current emblem.

ArtCraft cachet with Boeing 747; Blue.

Error: The ICAO emblem shown on this FDC is an early-unofficial emblem in use for some time in 1954 and 1955, with longer wings set lower on the globe than on the current emblem.

Artmaster cachet

Commemorative cover related to the exhibition commemorating the 75^th anniversary of the first flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903, organized in the UNESCO Pavilion at Man and His World, located at the previous Expo 67 international exposition site in Montréal, Canada.

Charles Lindbergh picture.

The above cover pays tribute to Lindbergh, who received posthumously in 1975 the ICAO Edward Warner Award for his significant contribution to the establishment of operating procedures and safety standards, and profound influence on aircraft engine development.

Fleetwood cachet (13-cent); Original painting by Fred Labitzke; Reverse of FDC contains historical background text with significance of stamps

Fleetwood cachet (25 cent); Original painting by Fred Labitzke; Reverse of FDC contains historical background text with significance of stamps

Back of Fleetwood covers, with text on the

significance of the New York stamps

Front of the Medallic FDC (With sterling silver engraved medallion) by the United Nations Postal Administration; Certificate of authenticity on the back signed by Clayton C. Timbrell, Assistant Secretary General, and Ole Hamann, Chief United Nations Postal Administration. More information on this issue can be found at: Small Collectibles Beside Philately - Medals.

Back of Medallic FDC (With sterling silver engraved medallion) by the United Nations Postal Administration; Certificate of authenticity signed by Clayton C. Timbrell, Assistant Secretary General, and Ole Hamann, Chief United Nations Postal Administration. More information on this issue can be found at: Small Collectibles Beside Philately - Medals.

Silk cachet; Studio Philatélique G. Marchand, Geneva, Switzerland

United Nations Official cachet; combo cancellations

Colorano Silk cachet; New York cancel, with inscription: PREMIER JOUR D’ÉMISSION / FIRST DAY OF ISSUE; Air Traffic Controller

Colorano Silk cachet; Geneva cancel, with the inscription: PREMIER JOUR D’ÉMISSION / FIRST DAY OF ISSUE; Groundmarshaller and the signal Move Ahead

Concorde at Heathrow airport. The F-WTSB production Concorde (the first of the two-production aircraft) first flew on 6 December 1973 from Toulouse.

Back of the previous card dated 6 December 1978 commemorating the 5^th anniversary of the first flight of F-WTSB Concorde.

The hand-stamp highlights the 10^th anniversary of the UN study Group of Great Britain.

First Day Cover overprinted by Webcraft with the current ICAO logo, creating a situation of anachronism

Franklin Mint United Nations Commemorative collection with UN first day covers from 1976 to 1978.

First Day Covers followed by their special inserts (recto and verso).

First Day Cover by Artopages.

Error on the UN emblem in the cachet: the design still shows the early unofficial UN emblem, which was replaced by the currently known emblem approved by the UN General Assembly on 7 December 1946.

Artopages began producing its first cachets back in 1962; Artopages cachets were originally produced by Alton A. Weigel. He also worked for Boerger A.B.C. cachets (the "A.B.C." stands for "Al Boerger Cachets"); hence, the similarity between Boerger and Artopages cachets.

Artopages cachet with inverted colors (blue and red) compared to the above.

Cachet autographed by the designer A.A. Weigel (See footnote 1).

Error on the UN emblem in the cachet: the design still shows the early unofficial UN emblem, which was replaced by the currently known emblem approved by the UN General Assembly on 7 December 1946.

Ralph Dyer cachets.

Ralph Dyer (1889-2000) started out in designing cachets in 1926 and the first Dyer printed cachet was in 1928.

Dyer used ink and transparent water colours, spraying the completed design with a fixative to prevent fading, accounting for the amazing freshness of the original colours on covers made over more than 50 years. He usually prepared a master design from which subsequent covers were individually duplicated. As Dyer became more well known, he was advised to sign his work and cachets with a distinctive signature. He first developed the

signature “RD” in the early 30s and later a very distinctive signature that showed up as “R. Dyer”. For more than 40 years, Dyer produced US FDCs

making more than 2000 of them for almost every stamp issued for the US and United Nations starting in 1928. The US cachets were

produced in larger numbers and several of them more than 85 per issue. That was not the case for the Canadian cachets he produced.

Ralph Dyer cachet. Note the variety in the design of letters UN.

Front the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) cachet; Aviator Charles Lindbergh

memorial design; Artwork by Chaim Gross in 1976, with painting by Ole Hamann, Denmark.

Reverse of WFUNA cachet, showing a dedication to Charles A. Lindbergh, and a drawing by Ole Hamann of the Spirit of St. Louis

Front the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) cachet.

Autographed by Ole Hamann, Denmark.

In recognition of Charles A. Lindbergh as a pioneer in civil aviation and in confirmation of his belief in its future, the words of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and the artistry of Ole Hamann from Denmark have been combined on the above cover and lithography to create a meaningful and artistic record of the theme of this stamp issue Safety in the Air. The artwork incorporates a quotation, signed on the plate by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, under a striking painting by Ole Hamann showing a bird in flight, with several shades of blue enhanced by a lighter blue background and a blue lettering. Ole Hamann was the third Chief, United Nations Postal Administration. The above cover and lithography (numbered 102/1000, front and back pictures) were the first WFUNA designs ever to feature two contributors, i.e. Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Ole Hamann, and two signatures.

The quotation on the front of the cover is from Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s response on behalf of her late husband, to the presentation of the Edward Warner Award from ICAO in November 1975: The early flyers loved flying for itself – for the freedom and beauty of the sky, the adventure of life in the air … They wanted flying to be safer and faster … My husband believed that aviation would be one of the great forces of the future to bring nations together.

Mr. Hamann was chief of the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) from 1971 to 1979. Prior to 1971, Mr. Hamann was chief of the UN Graphic Presentation Unit and has designed thirty-two UN stamps as well as stamps for other countries. He is a graduate of Copenhagen's Kunthandvaeker School of the Danish Royal Academy of Fine Arts and was president of the United Nations Art Club from 1955 to 1969. Advisor to the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in its philatelic activities, he also contributed designs in 1968 for three of its first day covers; the Henrik Starke statue, the UNIDO and the 20-cent airmail.

Prepaid Reply Postal Card (Design No. 1. See Footnote 1).

Upper portion: Postal card send from UN on 14 October 1955 to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cancelled with the UN 10th anniversary emblem.

Lower portion: Reply card sent from Brazil with Brazil’s UN 10th anniversary postmark dated 24 October 1955, cancelling the UNNY stamps.

Prepaid Reply Postal Card (Design No. 2. See Footnote 1).

Upper portion: Postal card send from UN on 19 October 1959 to Germany.

Lower portion: Reply card sent from Hamburg Airport, Germany, with cancel dated 29 October 1959. One German stamp was added to pay for airmail charges.

This card was issued in 1978 to pay tribute to ICAO’s work in promoting safety in the air. It provides a large retrospective of aviation history and development from 1903.

Four stamps were reproduced on this card, as follows:

1. USA – 12 December 1928 - International Civil Aviation Conference;

2. United Nations – 9 February 1955 - 10th Anniversary of ICAO;

3. Canada – 11 March 1964 - Douglas DC-9 taking off and Uplands Airport, Ottawa (now Macdonald–Cartier International Airport). During the 1950s, the airport was a joint-use civilian/military field and was the busiest airport in Canada by takeoffs and landings.

4. France – 3 March 1969 – Concorde First Flight.

Two stamps of the United Nations issue (12 June 1978) were affixed, along with the blue show imprint developed by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) for the CAPEX Philatelic Exhibition (9 to 18 June 1978).

The New York 25-cent stamp of this issue was later reproduced on other issues as follows:

25-cent New York stamp – Antigua and Barbuda : 40^th Anniversary of the United Nations, issued on 18/11/1985.

See details at the following link: Antigua and Barbuda : 40^th Anniversary of the United Nations.

25-cent New York stamp – Barbuda : 40^th Anniversary of the United Nations, issued on 12/08/1986; BARBUDA MAI overprint.

See details at the following link: Barbuda : 40^th Anniversary of the United Nations.

Page 20 of the 22-page booklet issued by the United Nations for its 50^th Anniversary on 24/10/1995.

See details at the following link: United Nations – 50^th Anniversary.

Footnote 1: Reply Paid Postal Card.

In 1891, the Universal Postal Congress introduced the Reply Paid Postal Card. This is a double post card with two prepaid halves attached to each other, a request card and a reply card. Both cards are franked with the postage of the sending country.

Although UN post cards were issued, no Reply Postal Cards have ever been issued. In 1955, Arnolds Terins, a New York-based UN stamp dealer, started to use a Reply Postal Card he had designed to send from the UN, and receive the reply portion from elsewhere, thus getting a “legal” non-UN postmark on UN stamps. Three different Reply Postal Cards were designed for use; only the first two designs, printed on both the request and reply cards, are of interest in ICAO philately.

Footnote 2: Special insert of the Safety in the Air Covers (English and French).

Footnote 1: Alton A. Weigel

The brand name Artopages, derived from a contraction of Art Topic Pages, began producing its first cachets back in 1962; their cachets were originally produced by pioneer designer Alton A. Weigel (1893-1980) from Woodville, Ohio, a former engineer whose initiation into the philatelic business came through designing pages for stamp albums.

Weigel’s early philatelic work drew the attention of Alfred Boerger, a Toledo, Ohio stamp dealer, who suggested he draws some designs for first day covers (FDCs). Weigel started doing so for U.S. stamps in 1960.

Weigel worked for Boerger A.B.C. cachets (the "A.B.C." stands for "Alfred Boerger Cachets"); hence, the similarity between Boerger and Artopages cachets. A.B.C. existed before the Artopages brand.

Artopages has been present also on first day covers for Canadian stamp issues since 1967. The firm named Artopage Covers, consisting of a partnership between Alton A. Weigel and James "Jim" Novotny, was established in 1964 to produce pages for American stamp albums, but diversified to include Canadian issues in 1967.

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