Canada's Ugliest Stamp

There are some pretty bad ones there. I often wonder in the 70's if they knew everything was tacky but nobody had the courage to state it.

Gilles, now that you bring it up, that is a pretty ugly stamp. Despite having a portrait in some believable colour scheme the pose, the frame, the lettering just are not aesthetically pleasing. It's just a poor design, no queation. (well IMHO)

This one has to be near the top
of the ugly list.

Yeah, that BC looks like a stack of blankets.
(Yes, guykickinit, it's a polka-dotted Christmas present.)
Now, if I were a close friend or relative of Margaret Lawrence, I would be pretty non-plussed with this one: #1622 (1996)



... and writing all over her face!

There are many ugly stamps in my opinion as well as some really beautiful ones. Too many have been made with little thought to aesthetics. The new band stamps are an example. However, I cringe whenever I come across the #868 in my catalogue. To me it is creepy. I prefer the pre-1960s for pure artistry.

I think this topic is worth reviving. Share your examples of the ugliest Canadian stamps!

How about roadkill squirrel

The World Health Day stamp gets my vote - hate the thing and I have a whole envelope full of them; thinking of a bonfire.

and



Definitely a tie between these two... I'm also not a fan of those Christmas stamps that look like wings with the middle stickers you could add.

Faken I agree, although I must say that beautiful CDS on the 7c is nice...Although it's like putting lipstick on a pig.

Some folks really put an effort in to centering that CDS :) I saw a #4 beaver the other day at CUPX 35 in mtl and the ol 7 ring bullseye cancel was perfectly centered right over the beaver lol! I cracked a joke to the dealer saying someone was sure focused on the brown beaver, didn't even crack a smile... I was booed off the stage.

I thought Studystamps found a real "uglie" with #2290 (2008).
It looks like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
It reminded me of the previous Francophonie stamp #1589 (1995).
A very strange design, indeed - four different fonts, obscure symbolism, and two parallel brown lines

Just to bump the topic along a bit.
Here is a strangely deconstructed Terry Fox #915 (1982)
You can almost feel the pain.



but the Post Office got the rare chance to get it right the second time with a much-improved #1824c (2000)

This thing here is a disgrace to the whole idea of nationhood.



I copied the image from Canadian Postal Archives Database.
Thank You.

Can you imagine the US printing something similar
using the stars and stripes for the Fourth of July.

Any 5 year old could have done this yet it took 4 people
to come up with this garbage.

Based on an illustration by Laurie Lafrance
Designed by Jean-Pierre Veilleux, Lisa Miller, Roger Séguin

Why did Canada Post (us/we) pay good money
for this crap ?

Stuff like that is the reason why I stopped collecting
Canadian stamps long ago.

I've been pretty well flyspecked to death lately on this auspicious blog and so, when I spotted the following stamp on ebay, I thought I'd revive this topic for a moment.
There is a deformed-tailed Canadian symbol and two 50's hidden in this Rorschach test. (Also a white D (Design) & black C (Canadian) to complement the more obvious lower case G (Graphic))



It is ironic (to me, at least) that an issue celebrating graphic design should depict such a juvenile and contrived example.

This one came up too late....50 yr celebration with a 51 c value....