Holly Blue voted as Finland’s most beautiful stamp

Finns voted for a stamp featuring Holly Blue, Finland’s national butterfly, as the most beautiful stamp released in 2019, said a press release issued by the country’s postal and logistic services operator Posti.

The winning stamp was released last June in the Finnish Nature Symbols II roll of stamps, in which Stiina Hovi, the designer of the stamps, wanted to depict memories of summer familiar to many Finns. The photograph used for the Holly Blue stamp was taken by Esa Ervasti.

The two Forest Hike stamps, issued last September, were voted as the second and third most beautiful stamps respectively. The stamps’ nostalgic images feature a girl and a boy in a forest with puppies. Suvi Roiko, who took the photos for the stamps, wanted to highlight friendship between children and animals with her painting-like photos.

This is not the first time Stiina Hovi’s stamp designs have won competitions: Finns voted her Sound of Silence stamp as the most beautiful stamp of 2017. The same stamp was chosen as the best stamp in the world at the international Nexofil Awards both for 2018 and the five-year period from 2013 to 2017.

People could vote for Finland’s most beautiful stamp on Posti’s website or by sending a postcard. A total of 42,103 votes were cast, of which 38,527 were online votes and 3,576 postcard votes.

The results of the voting were very close, with the difference in the numbers of votes for the stamps in first and third places being only around 200. The winning stamp received 3,721 votes, the stamp in second place received 3,611 and the stamp in third place received 3,511 votes.

The top 10 stamps are 1. Holly Blue (Finnish Nature Symbols II) by Stiina Hovi, 2. Girl and Dog (Forest Hike) by Suvi Roiko, 3. Boy and Dogs (Forest Hike) by Suvi Roiko, 4. Birch Forest (Finnish Nature Symbols II) by Stiina Hovi, 5. Snowflakes by Paula Salviander, 6. Kalle Päätalo by

Ari Lakaniemi and Susanna Rumpu, 7. Horse (Finnish Nature Symbols II), by Stiina Hovi, 8. European Perch (Finnish Nature Symbols II) by Stiina Hovi, 9. Flower Crown (Floral Artistry) by Paula Salviander, and 10. Calla by Oona Himanen.