Prague - Fans of Václav Klaus can now buy a stamp depicting the Czech president in post offices and newspaper stands. The stamp is on sale for 10 CZK.
"The stamp is almost the same as the last one. The only difference is in color. Before it was red and brown, now it is dark blue," spokesperson Ivo Mravinac explained to Aktuálně.cz.
The "presidential" stamp comes in the size of 1.9 and 2.3 cm.
The new stamp was to be released because of the price increase for postal services.
From January the price for sending a letter has increased from 7.50 to 10 CZK.
Real portrait, no photo
What is interesting about this stamp is that it was designed according to a real portrait.
In past stamps bearing portraits of Czech presidents had been designed with the help of an official photograph by Czech press agency ČTK. President Klaus is the first exception.
The author of the painting is Oldřich Kulhánek who also designed the current Czech bank notes. The mould was prepared by an engraver Miloš Ondráček who is a famous portrait painter.
Nonetheless, Václav Klaus was not overly content with the first draft.
Havel, the quickest
Stamps depicting Czech presidents have a long tradition in the country. They first appeared in 1918.
A stamp that was issued the fastest was of president Václav Havel in 1990. It was on sale in post offices in 10 days after his election.
The stamp with Václav Klaus was on sale in July 2003, which means 5 months after he was elected Czech president.
Originally, the stamp was supposed to be on sale in May but Klaus did not like his portrait, so the stamp had to be altered and went on sale only in June.
