Switzerland

On 10 May 2000 Switzerland issued some fine new stamp series, including Pro Patria and Europe.

Pro Patria

The annual theme selected by the Swiss Pro Patria Foundation for its latest set of stamps is Townscapes 2000. The aim is to preserve historic places in Switzerland, with the focus on the overall impact of public and private buildings, parks, trees and other characteristic features, rather than on individual buildings as monuments.

Cities

70 + 35c Näfels
70 + 35c Tengia
90 + 40c Brugg
90 + 40c Carouge

Stamps in detail

These stamps were designed by Klaus Oberli and printed in intaglio and offset by the Swiss Post Stamp Printers. Size of the stamps: 33 x 28 mm.

Europe

The Frenchmen Jean-Paul Cousin designed the "Europa" stamp of 2000. A golden yellow structure made of stars standing on a bright-green base reaches up into a sky the same colour of blue as the European Union flag. The stars stand for the Union's member countries, whereby each is an independent part of the whole, with its own patterns and a clearly defined position.

Stamps in detail

Value: 90c.
Print: Offset.
Size: 30 x 39.6 mm.

Alliance F

Alliance F celebrated its centenary in May 2000. As the Federation of Swiss Women's Associations (FSWA), four women's organisations from various parts of Switzerland joined forces at the turn of the centenary to implement the demands of the 1896 Women's Congress.
Nowadays these demands strike us as self-evident, but back in those days, they were far ahead of their time.