PEACE ARCH CENTENNIAL JOINT ISSUE STAMP
Stamp Background | Stamp History | Our Submission | Stamp Educational Infographics
Peace Arch Stamp Support letters. | Design a Peace Arch Stamp Art Contest (coming soon)
INTERNATIONAL PEACE ARCH COMMEMORATIVE STAMP REQUEST BACKGROUND
Since the early days of the Peace Arch, individuals, stamp clubs, and community organizations from the United States and Canada have nominated the Peace Arch to be recognized on official postage stamps.
These historical efforts to feature the Peace Arch on postage stamps have been creative, sincere, and inspirational. However, none of them have resulted in the production of an official postage stamp honoring the monument.
Like many people on both sides of the border, we believe that recognizing the International Peace Arch on a postage stamp is long overdue. Specifically, we believe the Peace Arch should be featured on both U.S. and Canadian postage stamps to commemorate its one-hundredth anniversary.
Consequently, in the fall of 2018, the International Peace Arch Association has applied for the Peace Arch to be featured on a Joint Issue Postage Stamp in Canada and the USA.
To encourage the general public to join us in this quest, we've created infographics and educational materials for you to download and share.
We hope you will join us in this effort. Scroll down this page and follow the link on this page to see how you can help!
Just for Kids - Click here to download a Peace Arch Stamp you can color.
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Coming Soon - Peace Arch Centennial Stamp Design Contest & Art Show!
HISTORYÂ OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE ARCHÂ
Commemorative Postage Stamp Requests
1937
USA
The first recorded efforts to persuade the United States Postal Service to feature the Peace Arch on a postage stamp was in 1937.
1970
USA
A commemorative stamp was submitted to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Arch.
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1938
USA
On May 19, 1938, in honor of National Airmail Week, a special flight left from Blaine's Dierks Field (airport). Blaine Postmaster W.V. Cowderoy invited every town citizen to participate by sending a picture postcard depicting the Peace Arch.
1982
USA - Canada
The Bellingham Stamp Club proposed a stamp to Commemorate Expo 86
with the hope of celebrating Canada's centennial with a commemorative stamp in conjunction with Expo-86 in Vancouver, B.C., and the historic Peace Arch."
1963
Canada
The Peace Arch District Philatelic Association, created in the fall of 1963, was named in honor of the international portal.
1995
Canada
The Peace Arch Stamp Club in White Rock and the Surrey Historical Society, backed by Surrey council and local MP Val Meredith, wanted Canada Post to commemorate the Arch on a stamp for its 75th Anniversary
in 1996.
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1965
USA
President Lyndon Johnson and Prime Minister Lester Pearson signed the Columbia River Treaty at the Peace Arch on September 16, 1964. In 1965, the Blaine Community Chamber of Commerce requested the postmaster general issue a Peace Arch commemorative postage stamp in honor of the treaty.
1995
USA
For the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Peace Arch. Blaine residents Reg & Vivian Campain applied for a commemorative stamp.
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INTERNATIONAL PEACE ARCH COMMEMORATIVE STAMP SUBMISSION
November 30th, 2018
In the fall of 2018, the International Peace Arch Association submitted letters to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. The letters nominated the International Peace Arch to be featured on a U.S. Canada Joint Issue stamp in September 2021 to commemorate its centennial.
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Each country has a Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee and guidelines and criteria they follow as consider as they select subjects to be featured. They include our heritage, culture, traditions, geography, and achievements.
It is our associations' opinion that our submissions meet the criteria for consideration in both countries because of the Peace Arch’s national and international appeal and its historical and cultural significance. As friends, family, neighbors, and trading partners, its creation and existence is a positive reflection on both American and Canadian life.
The International Peace Arch Association developed the infographics below to support the creation of a Joint Issue Peace Arch Stamp. Each infographic features a selection of individual stamps that have been issued in the USA or Canada depicting our shared culture, values, history achievements or geography.
United States Canada Stamp Educational Infographics (set of three)
Click on the images on this page to view our letters to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committees or educational infographics. The stamp infographics are to assist you in learning about our countries' shared history reflected in American and Canadian postage stamps.
1) U.S. Canada Stamps feature our shared history and culture that have been issued either in the U.S. or Canada.
2) Joint Issue Stamp is a stamp that is released to commemorate something at the same time in two countries.
3) Notable landmarks and historic sites along our international border that have been featured on stamps (joint or single issue). There have been NO STAMPS commemorating sites west of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Parks.
Citizen Stamp Committees Responses
Canada Post | January 16th, 2019
United States Postal Service | March 15th, 2019
Canada Post | March 16th, 2020
In the fall of 2019, the International Peace Arch Association invited some of our cross-border partners to show their support for a Peace Arch Joint Issue Stamp. We forwarded their support letters to both the U.S. and the Canadian Stamp Committees.
We all are excited to find out in the very near future if the Peace Arch will
be commemorated with a centennial stamp!
Cross border Peace Arch Stamp support letters (click to read).
Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen
Border Policy Research Institute, WWU
International Peace Garden, North Dakota & Manitoba
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White Rock Museum and Archives
Surrey Historical Society, BC
We do not have a copy, we know our friends at the Peace Arch Stamp Club in White Rock, BC, also submitted letters to both the U.S. and Canadian Stamp Committees.
