The stamps and other Philatelic material that are sold over the Post Office counters all originate from Philatelic Services. All members of the public are invited each year to submit suggestions for postage stamp themes. The suggestions must be formally submitted in written form with a proper layout and list of the specific items of the theme which is proposed.
All the suggestions are then tabled and submitted before the Namibian Stamp Advisory Committee who then select the most suitable themes. This selection is very carefully done to ensure that all relevant spheres in the Namibian society regarding culture, history, the environment, economical development, et cetera, are covered. The chosen themes are then submitted before the NamPost Board of Directors who then select and approve the final four to six themes.
Philatelic Services then contracts stamp designers for each topic who then need about two to three months to complete the necessary research and artwork. Stamp designers have to be carefully selected as not all artists, however excellent their work, may have the correct style and technical skills to design a stamp. The initial artwork is four times larger than the actual size of the stamp and very often important detail is lost when the artworks are reduced to the size of the stamps.
After the initial artwork is approved, it is sent to security stamp printers where the overlays (containing the postage fee and name of stamp and date) are prepared and the stamps printed.
After the printing has been completed the stamps are dispatched to NamPost Stores from where they are then distributed to all Post Offices countrywide.
Stamps can be seen as a country's little ambassadors as they travel all across the world to places where the people there might never have heard of our country. Imagine such a person seeing a stamp of our beautiful desert or our flag and he will immediately know that we exist!
The stamps used within a country educate and enhance its own people by displaying the different aspects of the country and by promoting awareness issues such as the preservation of wildlife, trees and other cultural related issues.
Stamps also display and record a country's history highlighted with the issue depicting the president of the country as well as the national flag and emblem. All other aspects of a country such as its marine and animal life, health issues, tourism, sport, cultural activities, landscapes, et cetera, are recorded and distributed countrywide and worldwide.
Stamps are therefore an integral part of the lives of a country's people, the themes should be chosen and portrayed well and the production of a high quality.
