On September 19, 2017, Australia Post issued a set of three stamps and a mini-sheet recognizing the cultural heritage of the Australian Antarctic Territory. The issue focuses on cultural artifacts from three key historical periods relating to Antarctica, which we refer to as the “exploration era”, “interwar era” and “postwar era”. Each artifact also represents a specific cultural theme. The set of three stamps are divided into the Exploration era (AUD 1), the Interwar era (AUD 1), and the Postwar era (AUD 2).  The exploration era, also known as the heroic period, spans the late 19th and early 20th centuries – a time when several countries undertook voyages to Antarctica. The stamp features an aneroid barometer that was given to Australian physicist Alistair Keith Jack by Ernest Shackleton, expedition leader of the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition’s (1914–16).  The Interwar era stamp design features the proclamation over King George V Land that Australian polar explorer and scientist Douglas Mawson signed on behalf of the British sovereign on 5 January 1931. The proclamation represents both political and geographical history and is especially significant as it formed the basis of Britain’s eventual transferal of territory to Australia in 1933. This stamp features a partial map of Antarctica, with the remaining section of the map printed on the center of the mini-sheet, in what appears to be a type of polar stereographic projection. The design of the third stamp, the Postwar ear, features the tracked Weasel M29 vehicle that was introduced to Antarctica after World War II.  Following World War II, scientific interest in Antarctica was renewed, facilitated by Douglas Mawson’s lobbying of the government. In 1947, ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition) was formed to undertake Australian Antarctic research. The Weasel M29 vehicle pictured in the stamp was the main Antarctic vehicle for ANARE until the mid-1960s, and was used on ANARE’s 1962–63 Wilkes–Vostok traverse, an historic journey of 3,000 kilometres to the Russian station in the Antarctic interior. [please comment on the maps projection if it is incorrect. it may also be a polar planar type of projection. it seems the surrounding continents may have been omitted on purpose. let us know what you think — web-admin]

Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) 2017-09-19