(Fig. 1)

The primary and original purpose of stamps is to indicate postage paid, and most early stamps featured symbols and emblems of the nations from which they were issued. With the development of philately and growing attention given to stamps, the designs became the central focus of stamps. Around the world, countries and regions that issue postage stamps select topics that are representative of their nations and sources of national pride. On stamps one can find miniature representations of everything from beautiful landscapes, folk customs, and marvelous cultural products and works of art (Fig. 1), to advanced scientific achievements, exceptional historical figures, and precious fauna and flora. Stamps truly shoulder the sacred mission of being “namecards of a nation.” (Fig. 1)

There are many types of stamps, which can be categorized in various ways. For instance, by subject matter, there are outer space stamps (Fig. 2), animal stamps (Fig. 3), flower stamps, birds stamps (Fig. 4) and so forth. By function, stamps can be commemorative, air mail, definitive, postage-due, special stamps, and so forth. Currently, Chunghwa Post issues seven types of stamps: definitive, special, commemorative, air mail, surtax, field post and postage-due stamps.