You have most likely
come across some stamps that are from Helvetia. However, you are not entirely
sure where that is, or if it was a former country and has later changed its
name, or something along those lines. Well lo and behold, Helvetia is a well-known
European country, that has existed for centuries. It is also well known for
their neutral stance throughout time. You might have guessed it by know, it is
Switzerland.
Thus, this raises
the question, why don't they just include the country name 'Switzerland'
instead of Helvetia. Before we go into the postal history in Switzerland, lets
find out where the term Helvetia came from. Since Switzerland comprises of
"four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansch), it was
tricky to pick a language as the official one for the postage stamps. So
instead, they chose to write on the stamps in Latin, resulting with the name
Helvetia. The term Helvetia goes back to the "Celtic tribes that inhabited
the Alpine regions at the dawn of the Christian era." (Mackay, 54)
"Switzerland was formed in 1291 by an alliance
of cantons against the Habsburg dynasty - the Confoederatio Helvetica (or Swiss
Confederation), from which the abbreviation CH for Switzerland derives - though
only in 1848, when a new constitution was adopted, was the present nation
formed. [1]
Switzerland has an
interesting postal history of stamps. Since Switzerland is a confederacy with
multiple cantons, each canton used to issue their own stamps. [2] The first stamp issued in Switzerland was
back in 1843, and was issued by Zurich, which was followed by Geneva in the
same year. [3] However, this did not last for long, as the postal services were
no longer managed by the cantons, instead were managed on the federal level.
That is when the federal level decided to issue the stamps of Switzerland in
its Latin name. [4]
Postage stamps of
the cantons of Switzerland are not only of immense value but are also rare
stamps. In addition, Swiss stamps continue to amaze philatelists, as they issue
unique stamps. For example, Switzerland was the first in the world to issue
stamps made of cloth material instead of paper. In another instance, they
issued a postage stamp made of wood. So who knows what kind of stamps
Switzerland will issue next, and stamps from Switzerland do reveal to be a
fascinating collection to have, as well as to explore!
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