STAMP ISSUES RELATED TO ICAO (1978-1983)

 

Uruguay : Anniversaries and Events

 

Issue date: 18/06/1979

 

 

 

Cpt. Boiso Lanza (flight‑pioneer) and Blériot XI monoplane, Wright Brothers and Wright Flyer I (picture and upper profile); ICAO emblem.

With watermark:  inverted ROU (Republica Oriental del Uruguay) within a sun. The official country name Republica Oriental del Uruguay indicates that the Republic lies east of the River Uruguay.

 

 

Block of four stamps from upper right corner of a page, with ICAO emblems. Control number in margin.

1978 was also the 65th anniversary of the Uruguayan air force (see selvage: 65º ANNIVERSARIO DE LA FUERZA AEREA URUGUAYA).

Only 12,500 blocks were produced.

Background: Within the Anniversaries and Events issue, this stamp commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the first powered flight and the 65th Anniversary of the Uruguayan air force. This airmail stamp is part of a series of four stamps (Year Events); it had limited distribution and was issued in sheets of 24 containing 6 blocks of 4 stamps with margins around.

On the selvage, the designer of those stamps included the ICAO emblem, preceded by 75o Aniversario de ICAO - OACI.

Uruguay inadvertently confused the 75th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ triumph, who made the first successful flight of a manned heavier-than-air vehicle on 17 December 1903, with ICAO which, even today, has not yet reached such a milestone. Furthermore, it should be noted that the date of issuance of this set by Paraguay did not correspond to an anniversary of the first flight (which should have been in 1978) nor to an anniversary celebrated by ICAO. This issue should have more rightly commemorated the 30th anniversary of ICAO (in April 1977), and not its 75th anniversary.