The stamp and postmark designed by Vietnamese artists will be produced as a joint issue stamp within the ASEAN region on August 8, 2015 to celebrate the 48^th founding anniversary of ASEAN and the formation of the ASEAN Community on December 31, 2015.

Artists Vu Kim Lien and Nguyen Du from the Viet Nam Post Corporation (Viet Nam Post) were recently declared the winners of the official stamp and postmark contest organised by the Thailand Post with joint efforts from the Posts of other nine ASEAN countries.

The ten flags of the ASEAN country members make up the main pattern of the stamp, stitched together to become a flower, said Vu Kim Lien, adding that yellow cornflowers are stylised behind the main pattern to represent the substantial potential of ASEAN members to develop their agricultural economies.

The Vietnamese designs, closely reflecting the ASEAN’s motto of “One vision, one identity, one community”, play a crucial role in enhancing Viet Nam’s prestige in culture and art, said Nguyen Quang Vinh, Deputy Head of the postal stamp board under the Viet Nam Post.

He highlighted that the joint stamp and postmark are a significant towards postal cooperation among the ASEAN state members, adding that they also make a great contribution to popularising the ASEAN Community establishment to the 600 million residents in the region.

The issuing of a joint stamp for the ten ASEAN countries was recommended by the Thailand Post at the ASEAN Postal Business Meeting (APBM) held in Cambodia in 2012.

The organising board received 30 stamp designs and 25 postmark designs from all ten ASEAN nations.

Founded in 1967, the ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.