Overview

Anzac Day, held annually on 25 April, marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War – the landing at Gallipoli and the attempted capture of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). The campaign took eight months and cost more than 8,100 Australian lives. Although a failure in military terms, it is said that the mateship, courage and endurance shown by the Anzacs helped to shape Australia’s emerging national identity.

This stamp issue features oil on canvas paintings that were inspired by the events of the two World Wars on the home front and in combat overseas. William Dargie and Stella Bowen were both employed as Australian official war artists during World War II. Grace Cossington Smith and Hilda Rix Nicholas painted subjects that had personal significance.

Technical specifications

Issue date
14-April-2020
Issue withdrawal date
31-October-2020
Denomination
$1.10 x 4
Stamp design
Simone Sakinofsky, Australia Post Design Studio
Product design
Simone Sakinofsky, Australia Post Design Studio
Paper: gummed
Tullis Russell
Paper: self-adhesive
RAF Unik
Printer
RA Printing
Printer: self-adhesive
Multi-color Corp
Printing process
Offset lithography
Printing process: self-adhesive
Flexographic
Stamp size (mm)
26 x 375
Minisheet size (mm)
80 x 130
Concertina sheetlet size (mm)
156 x 463
Perforations
14.6 x 13.86
Sheet layout
Module of 50
FDI Postmark
Canberra ACT 2601
FDI withdrawal date
12-May-2020

Stamps in this issue

$1.10 Grace Cossington Smith, The sock knitter
1915

Young Sydney artist Grace Cossington Smith (1892–1984) painted the now-celebrated modernist work The sock knitter in 1915 during World War I. It represents the artist’s sister knitting socks for soldiers at the front.

$1.10 Hilda Rix Nicholas, A man 1921

A man by Hilda Rix Nicholas (1884–1961), painted in Sydney shortly after the Great War, depicts an unnamed heroic Australia soldier. It poignantly recalls the artist’s tragic loss of her husband, killed in action in France only five weeks after their marriage in 1916.

$1.10 William Dargie, Group of VADs 1942

Dargie’s (1912–2003) Group of VADs, painted in 1942, is a portrait of four civilian nurses in the Voluntary Aid Detachment at 115 Australian General Hospital (later the Repatriation Hospital) in Heidelberg, Melbourne, where they assisted in the care of convalescing military personnel.

$1.10 Stella Bowen, Bomber crew 1944

Stella Bowen’s (1893–1947) Bomber crew is a moving tribute to six Australians and one Englishman comprising a Lancaster bomber crew of No. 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force. On 28 April 1944, the night after Bowen completed the initial sketches for the painting, the airmen were reported missing over Germany. Only Pilot Officer Thomas Lynch (back row, second from left) survived.

Shop our stamp collectables

Set of stamps:

Set of Anzac Day 2020 gummed stamps

This set of stamps contains all four stamps from the Anzac Day 2020 stamp issue.

Stamp pack:

Anzac Day 2020 stamp pack

The Anzac Day 2020 stamp pack contains all four stamps and minisheet from the stamp issue presented in high quality folder.

Minisheet:

Anzac Day 2020 minisheet

The Anzac Day 2020 minisheet consists of the four stamps from the issue incorporated into a miniature stamp sheet.

Maxicard set:

Set of Anzac Day 2020 maxicards

This maxicard set contains the four maxicards from the Anzac Day 2020 stamp issue.

Additional products:

  • Anzac Day 2020 concertina pack
  • Anzac Day 2020 postal numismatic cover
  • Roll of 100 Anzac Day 2020 self-adhesive stamps
  • Strip of 4 self-adhesive Anzac Day 2020 stamps
  • Pictorial envelope for the Anzac Day 2020 stamp issue
  • Gutter strip of 10 x $1.10 Grace Cossington Smith, The sock knitter 1915 stamps
  • Gutter strip of 10 x $1.10 Hilda Rix Nicholas, A man 1921$1.10 Hilda Rix Nicholas, A man 1921 stamps
  • Gutter strip of 10 x $1.10 William Dargie, Group of VADs 1942 stamps
  • Gutter strip of 10 x $1.10 Stella Bowen, Bomber crew 1944 stamps
  • First day Anzac Day 2020 gummed stamps cover
  • First day Anzac Day 2020 minisheet cover
  • First day Anzac Day 2020 self-adhesive stamp cover

This content was produced at the time of the stamp issue release date and will not be updated.