Eighth set of Vietnamese postage stamps about Dien Bien Phu Victory to be released soon

The postage stamp commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (1954 - 2024) is one of two stamp themes that the Ministry of Information and Communications has just added to the 2024 postage stamp theme program, along with the theme commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The Postage Stamp Department, Vietnam Post Corporation (Vietnam Post) said that with the addition of the above two stamp themes, the 2024 postage stamp theme program is expected to issue a total of 15 stamp sets, including 7 commemorative stamp sets and 8 thematic stamp sets. Up to now, there have been 2 stamp sets, 'Love stamps' and 'Commemorating the 1,100th anniversary of the birth of Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang (924-979)', issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications on February 14 and March 22, respectively.

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The first set of stamps about the Dien Bien Phu Victory issued in October 1954, designed by artist Bui Trang Chuoc. Photo: Vietnam Post

Historical event of Dien Bien Phu on postage stamps Regarding the theme of postage stamps commemorating the Dien Bien Phu Victory, since 1954, there have been 7 sets of stamps recreating this historical event issued by the Vietnam Post. Of which, the first set of stamps named 'Dien Bien Victory (May 7, 1954)' was issued in October 1954, including 4 stamps depicting the image of Dien Bien soldiers standing proudly on the roof of the French General De Castries' bunker, but the colors and prices of the stamps were changed between the stamps, with the stamp prices being 10 dong, 50 dong, 150 dong and 0.6 kg of rice respectively. The fourth stamp of the stamp set was printed with the stamp price in rice, used as an official stamp (a type of stamp issued specifically for use in delivering official correspondence - PV). In particular, the designer of the postage stamp set 'Dien Bien Victory (May 7, 1954)', artist Bui Trang Chuoc, was the first Vietnamese to draw postage stamps in Indochina and the artist who drew the Vietnamese national emblem, and was also the designer of many valuable stamp sets in the history of Vietnamese postage stamps, typically: 'Commemorating the 61st birthday of President Ho Chi Minh' including 3 designs issued in 1951; 'Land reform' including 7 designs issued in 1955; 'Congratulating the Government on returning to the Capital (January 1, 1955)' including 4 designs, issued in 1956; 'Hanoi - Muc Nam Quan Railway', 'Hero Cu Chinh Lan (1930 -1952)', 'Tran Dang Ninh (1910 - 1955' and 'Hero Mac Thi Buoi (1927-1951)' were all issued in 1956...

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The postage stamp set 'Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory' designed by artist Huy Toan was sent to be printed in Cuba. Photo: Vietnam Post

Since then, every 10 years, Vietnam Post has organized the design and issuance of postage stamps commemorating the 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th and 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory. As one of the most beautiful postage stamp sets according to the assessment of many stamp collectors, 'Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory' is also the only stamp set in the postage stamp sets about the Dien Bien Phu Victory printed abroad, specifically in Cuba. The stamp set 'Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory' was designed by artist Huy Toan, including 7 stamp designs and 1 block design, with a total face value of 30 VND and was issued on May 7, 1984. Along with the stamp block 'Command and Front Map', the stamp designs of the stamp set commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory have recreated the most typical images in the journey of the Vietnamese army and people fighting and winning at the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, from 'Front Command Meeting' to 'Marching to Battle', 'Fire-line workers', 'Pulling artillery' to 'Shooting down enemy planes', 'Capturing strongholds' and 'On the roof of De Castries bunker'.

The launching ceremony of the contest on '70 years of the historic Dien Bien Phu victory through postage stamps' on January 11. Photo: Vietnam Post

This year, also aiming to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, from mid-January, the Central Council of the Young Pioneers, Vietnam Post and the Vietnam Stamp Association have coordinated to organize a contest to collect and learn about postage stamps in 2024 with the theme '70 years of the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory through postage stamps'. Expected to last until mid-April, the contest is for young pioneers and children from 8 to 15 years old across the country, with the aim of helping young people gain more knowledge about the history of the struggle to defend the country of the Vietnamese people, thereby arousing love for the homeland, national pride and gratitude to previous generations.

According to research by stamp collector Hoang Anh Thi, Chairman of the Viet Stamp Collecting Club of the Ho Chi Minh City Stamp Association, in 1999 and 2004, images of the historical event of Dien Bien Phu were shown on postage stamps of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the French Republic. Specifically, on March 15, 1999, the Republic of the Marshall Islands issued the stamp sheet "Decade of Danger and Development 1950-1959" consisting of 15 stamps with a face value of 60 cents, showing many important events in the 50s of the 20th century. This stamp is part of the series of stamps about "20th Century" of the Marshall Islands postal service. The ninth stamp in this series, titled 'Sunset over the colonial empire', depicts a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh next to a bright red map of Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel, along with an image of soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army raising the 'Determination to fight, determination to win' flag on the roof of French General De Castries' bunker during the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954. Then, in 2004, when Vietnam celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, the French Post issued a stamp about this historic event.