Thematic : Elephants.

An elephant appears On the 100 + 50 (pf) value (Mi #1990) of Germany's June 10, 1998 Youth Charity "Cartoon Characters" set of four stamps.

The famous Lao elephant stamps on a cover. It is not FDC, but a commercial cover sent registered to NJ, USA with address label attached to it:


Here are color assays of the stamps:

The engraver of the stamps, Jean Pheulpin, with a sheet of one of the stamps:

Tajikistan
International Exhibitions
August 2, 2010
Set of four, one stamp depicts Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

Netherlands Antilles
Animals
March 29, 2000
Set of six, one stamp shows African Elephant.

Nice Image Eli !

Thanks, Rod! In the past, I think more than 25 years ago, I collected elephant stamps but stopped and sold the collection. Until today I regret I did it.

The elephant stamps from Laos I posted above are part of my Laos collection. Laos, which called in the past "The land of million elephants" issued many other stamps show elephants. Several of them show Erawan, the three-headed elephant, the old emblem of the Kingdom. Here is a small selection from the Kingdom period:

god Indra riding Erawan, the three-headed elephant:

African elephant, designed and engraved by Georges Bétemps and issued by Ivory Coast on October 1, 1959:

African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), designed by Emile Vloors, engraved by Elie Timothée Loizeaux and issued for use in Belgian Congo in 1927:

African elephant and other animals of W park, designed by R. Subert, engraved by René Cottet and issued by Niger on April 11, 1960:

Does anyone know how the coloring is achieved? Like the animals being of different colors...

Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), issued by Laos on January 23, 1982:

Asian Elephant, issued by Laos on September 2, 1987 to publicize the international stamp exhibition Hafnia '87, Copenhagen:

Asian and African Elephants, issued by Laos on June 12, 1997:

Working elephants in Laos:

Issued on March 17, 1958:

Timber industry in Paksane, issued on May 7, 1969 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ILO:

Issued on October 9, 1979:



Issued on December 2, 1980 to celebrate the 5th anniversary establishment of Lao PDR:


Issued on December 2, 1983 to celebrate the 8th anniversary establishment of Lao PDR:

I went through my French Indochina stamp collection and was surprised to learn that no stamp was issued shows the elephant as the main subject, although this colony was famous for its wild herds of elephants.

There are only two different designs issued show elephants:

The first is a stamp shows Lao woman issued in 1907. Elephant heads are depicted on the frame. This stamp was revalued and reissued in 1917:

The second design was issued on March 29, 1942 and shows elephant procession during Nam Giao Festival, one of the most important traditional ceremonies under the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam (1802-1945), which honored the sky and the earth and focused around the desire for peace, prosperity and favorable weather for better crops.

This set was revalued and reissued in 1946 twice by the Viet Minh forces: