Scott No: 756-757
Serial number: C103
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: April 12, 1964
Denomination: 16
Designer: Jiang Mi, Sun Chuanzhe
Size of stamps: 36.5*26mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 50(5*10)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

C103 "Celebrating African Freedom Day" commemorative stamps were issued on April 12, 1964. The set consists of 2 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 26.5 mm × 36 mm, perforation gauge 11, 50 stamps per sheet (5 × 10), both stamps with a face value of 8 fen, with a total face value of 0.16 yuan for the set, and a circulation of 5 million copies each.

Theme of the Set

In 1958, the Conference of Independent African States held in Accra, Ghana, designated April 15 of each year as African Freedom Day, calling on the African people to unite in struggle, break free from the shackles of colonialism, and strive for national independence and liberation. 1964 marked the sixth anniversary of the establishment of African Freedom Day. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set to express the Chinese people's firm support for the African national liberation movement and to praise the profound friendship between the Chinese and African peoples joining hands with one heart against colonialism.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

China-Africa Friendship

In the picture, a Chinese worker and a young man in African ethnic dress walk forward hand in hand. The background is a rising sun radiating light; the red sun symbolizes hope, implying that the African continent will eventually break through colonial oppression and welcome the dawn of independence and freedom, and also symbolizing that the Chinese and African peoples support each other and advance side by side.

War Drum

The design is dominated by deep brown-black tones, depicting the image of an African youth vigorously beating a war drum, with a resolute and powerful expression. Behind him are faint silhouettes of people rising in struggle. The war drum is the signal calling the people to rise and struggle, implying that the African people are unyielding and fight bravely for freedom and independence.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a vertical format, one warm and one deep, with the two pictures forming a sharp contrast. The first has bright, passionate colors, highlighting unity and friendship; the second draws on the black-and-white contrast technique of printmaking, weighty and vigorous, full of the power of struggle. The photogravure printing gives solid, powerful figure outlines, with a strong flavor of the era's propaganda posters.