Symbols of the October Revolution and Their Metamorphoses in the Commemorative Postal Stamps in RSFSR, USSR and Russian Federation

Abstract

The history of Soviet philately started with the postage stamp competition of 1918 when the symbols of industrial and agricultural labor were used for the first time. Presented designs were not accepted, and during the Civil War stamps of the old regime were still in use, usually bearing surcharges. In the period of 1921–1990 forty- nine issues of commemorative postal stamps were released. Among the revolutionary symbols used were depictions of the rising sun, cultivated wheat fields, hammer and sickle, and other labors’ tools. Another popular symbol was the depiction of a worker, a peasant and a Red Army soldier, with the abbreviation RSFSR The 10th anniversary of the Revolution was celebrated with an issue of stamps, some of which bore the images of the military uprising and the view of the Smolny Palace — the seat of the revolutionary staff in October of 1917. The 25th anniversary (in the fall of 1942) was marked with the special theme — “The Revolution is in Danger”, with seven stamps developing this dramatic symbolism, with the motto “Everything for the Front — Everything for the Victory”. From 1947 onwards (from the Revolution’s 30th anniversary) the events of October 1917 were marked by annual issues of stamps, all bearing some kind of revolutionary slogan, usually starting with the words “Glory to the…”. The red banners and the imagery of the Moscow Kremlin with its ruby stars as well as the portraits of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin became the main symbols of both the Red October and the USSR Since the 1960s the events of 1917 began to lose their popularity in the official state imagery. As an exception — in 1968 a stamp was issued, commemorating the Soviet order of the October Revolution, which was just instituted a year before. The early, romanticized images of the Revolution were replaced by politicized imagery of the dominant State, with countless depictions of the flag, the Kremlin, Soviet leaders, and later — reproductions of numerous (and arguably — the worst) works of Socialist Realism.