SHS – Chain breakers year 1920 15k MNH stamps block

SHS – Chain breakers year 1920 15k MNH stamps block

SHS Chain breakers stamps – Verigari was the first postage stamp series of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, issued in Slovenia after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the end of World War I. The name of the stamp series is derived from the Slovene word “veriga,” meaning ‘chain,’ and depicts a slave who has broken the chains. The scene symbolizes the freedom of the Slavic peoples from Austria-Hungary. It was designed by the academy-trained painter Ivan Vavpotič, whose model was the gymnast Stane Derganc. The stamp design includes the abbreviated name of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs written in Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj’s Latin script (“Држава СХС” – “Država SHS”). The stamp design also includes an image that represents a man who has broken the chains enslaving him; he stands in front of a rising sun.

The first stamps of the series were designed in late 1918 in Ljubljana during the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs and issued on 3 January 1919 after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. They were then published in different versions until 1920. In 1925, Vavpotič regretted the choice of the motif because he found it kitschy.