Timor-Leste 2002 Independence
- Issue Date: 20 May 2002
- Designed by: Janet Boschen
- Printed by: SNP Ausprint
- Print Process: Lithography
- Perforations: 14 x 14½
- Stamp Size: 40.25 mm x 30 mm
- Format: sheets of 50
Contents
Description
When Janet Boschen, Manager of Australia Post’s design studio, went to Timor-Leste she noticed the brightly coloured hand-woven cloth, called tais (pronounced ‘tice’). As she consulted with the people of Timor-Leste she learnt the cloth’s cultural significance went far deeper than its use in traditional clothing and decoration. The national tais is used as a unifying design element and as a symbol of the weaving together of past and present to create the new country’s future.
Stamps
Denominations are in U.S. Dollars.
25c Crocodile Stamp
A stylised crocodile represents the Timorese foundation story of a transcendent friendship between a baby crocodile and a boy. Their friendship lasts a lifetime and the grateful crocodile turns himself into land (Timor) to sustain the boy and his descendants, the Timorese people.
50c Palm Frond Stamp
Ceremonial palm fronds, a traditional symbol of welcome in Timor-Leste, are shown on the beach at Dili, the new nation’s capital.
$1 Coffee Stamp
The coffee fruit, plants and the young East Timorese symbolise the 90 per cent of the country’s population who live in rural areas, and the potential for further development of the export economy.
$2 Flag Stamp
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste’s flag is black, yellow, red and white, representing the obscurantism that needs to be overcome; the wealth of the country; and the struggle for national liberation and peace.
First Day Cover
The first day of issue postmark was Dili, Timor-Leste.
