Malta 'Europa' stamp best out of 44

Maltapost's stamp for the 2002 Europa stamp issue has been selected by the plenary delegates of PostEurop as the best out of 44 entries submitted for the stamp design competition.

This year's Europa theme was the circus, which inspired a variety of styles from various postal operators.

The Maltapost stamp portrays an image of a clown captured on film by photographer Gino Theuma. The original photograph, which shows two clowns, was entered into several photographic competitions and has also won other awards. Image cropping and design is by Roberta Zahra, a young designer with a university degree in communications. Ms Zahra has also created a number of anti-drug cartoons used by the national media.

This is the first time in the 50-year history of the Europa stamp that a contest was organised among postal operators to pay tribute to the originality and attractiveness of a particular country's design.

PostEurop also plans to organise a new contest for the best 2003 Europa stamp.