My Favourite Stamp

I added this Hong Kong stamp to my collection at McIntyre's years ago. I considered it my favourite at the time, and I still do today. 

Imagine my surprise when I was watching a mail call video on the Stampcat Youtube channel and a collector named Trevor sent two of these Hong Kong stamps to Youtuber Lisa. He called them "...Powerfully symbolic of the start of the post-war era."

$1 stamp (above) and 30 cent (below).

Some history: 

The Head Postmaster of Hong Kong, Edward Wynne-Jones, sketched the design while in a Japanese intermet camp in Hong Kong.

After his release at the end of the war in 1945, Wynne-Jones brought this artwork back to Britain with him, and sent it to the Colonial Office for consideration. A design for the crown colonies’ planned Victory omnibus issue, showing the Houses of Parliament, had already been agreed with the Colonial Office.

However, because of the exceptional background to Wynne-Jones’ design, special permission was given by King George VI for it to be used in Hong Kong instead of the universal one. Two values, recess-printed by De La Rue, were issued on August 29, 1946: a 30c intended for domestic letters and a $1 for airmail use. The Phoenix Rising From Flames stamp was issued August 29, 1946.

The design used a variety of symbols to convey a powerful message. The central portrait, naturally, was of King George VI, with a crown above his head, reasserting the power of the British Empire. Below this was the mythical phoenix bird, which died in flames and was reborn from the ashes, symbolising the colony’s recovery from disaster. A ribbon below the bird bore the word ‘Resurgo’ (Latin for ‘arise’), and the dates ‘1941’ and ‘1945’ recalling the period of the Japanese occupation. The name of the colony appeared in English at the top, while Lions of England held shields that gave the name in Chinese characters.

On each side of the stamps are vertical tablets bearing Chinese inscriptions. There are varying literal interpretations of these phrases, but the general sense is clear: on the left it says ‘China and Britain perpetually at peace’, and on the right ‘The phoenix revives: great good fortune’.