Tag Archives: France

On 5 August 2019, La Poste France delighted lighthouse stamp collectors by issuing a booklet of twelve different self-adhesive lighthouse stamps. The booklet cover even showed a stylized lighthouse. Since there are so many different stamps in this issue, they will be described in three separate posts, one for each pane in the booklet.

The first of these stamps features Dunkerque Lighthouse. This is the tallest brick lighthouse in France and is located on France’s northern coast near the Belgian border.

Next is Goury La Hague Lighthouse located on the English Channel near the Channel Islands (Jersey & Guernsey). This light dates from 1837 and provides mariners assistance in navigation the treacherous currents in this area.

The third stamp on this pane shows both the old and new Île Vierge lighthouses the new lighthouse replaced the shorter one in 1902 and is the tallest llighthouse in Europe.

The last lighthouse on this pane is Kéréon Lighthouse. This light is located on a reef southeast of the island of Ouessant.

See more lighthouse stamps from France here

On 6 May 2019 LaPoste issued a stamp featuring Augustin Fresnel the brilliant French engineer and physicist who contributed so much to the efficiency of the lighthouse. Though he only lived 39 years Fresnel accomplished much in the field of optics and while serving as commissioner of lighthouses he proposed that the lens of his design be used in lighthouses. Fresnel lenses are still found in many lighthouses worldwide nearly 200 years after his death.

See more lighthouse stamps from France here.