First day covers from Burma, Brunei and Lithuania

I have recently received a set of mint FDCs through a cover exchange club. As you know I am not a big fan of mint FDCs (what I call mint FDCs are FDCs that haven’t traveled through the postal service). But I wanted to share with you three of them anyway. Two comes from countries from where I rarely (or never) got mails. And the third one is somehow related to my cow stamps collection.

Lest start by the first one, coming from Burma, or more precisely the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

The stamp was issued in 1992 for the World Campaign against AIDS. The first day cancel reuses the same design that the stamp.

The second one is coming from Brunei Darussalam

The four se-tenant stamps have been issued on the 23^rd of February 2004 to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the National Day. The stamp on the left pictures Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at the United Nations. Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29^th Sultan of Brunei since 1967 and since 1984 he is the first prime minister. His portrait is also present on the right top corner of each stamp.

The last stamp on the right pictures an emblem which is also pictured on the official first day cover. The red emblem included in this design is the national crest of Brunei.

The National Crest of Brunei Darussalam was developed from a Royal emblem. It was superimposed on the National flag after promulgation of the 1959 Brunei Constitution.

The crest consists of (from top to bottom):

- Bendera - the flag

- Payung Ubor-Ubor - the Royal Umbrella

- Sayap - the wing

- Tangan (Kimhap) - the hands

- Bulan - the crescent

The Bendera and Payung Ubor-Ubor have been Royal regalia's since the creation of the crest. The Sayap - the wing of four feathers - symbolizes the protection of justice, tranquility, prosperity and peace.

Tangan or Kimhap - the hands - signify the Government's duty to promote welfare, peace and prosperity.

Bulan - the crescent - is the symbol of Islam, the national religion of Brunei Darussalam.

On the crescent is written the National motto: "Always in service with God's guidance".

The scroll beneath the crest reads "Brunei Darussalam" which means "Brunei, the abode of peace".

Finally the third one is from Lithuania.  

The three stamps have been issued on the 18^th of October 1997 and picture coat of arms of various cities. From left to right: Neringa, Vilkaviskis and Pasvalys.

As you can see the coat of arms of Pasvalys pictures the head of a bull with a ring in the nose, so the stamp will find its place in my cattle on stamps collection.

By the way this is interesting to notice that there are several examples of coat of arms through the world that include a cow, an ox or a bull in their design. This is an interesting subject for a future post. If you know some stamps picturing such symbols, please drop me a mail! Thanks