Queen Elizabeth II from the United Kingdom

 

This year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will mark her 60th year of reign. In this way, she becomes the second British Monarch to reach a Diamond Jubilee. The front of the postcard shows a stamp issued in 2003 by Royal Mail, with a photo taken on the 2th June 1953 for the Coronation Day.

The third stamp used on the back of the postcard is part of the Diamond Jubilee Definitives. It depicts the portrait of the Queen used on Bank of England 1£ banknotes in 1960. The other two stamps are common definitive ones.

Mount Fuji from Japan

 

 Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. On this card and its stamp, the active volcano is represented on a ukiyo-e, a particular form of Japanese art popular between the 17th and the 20th century. It is the print "Red Fuji" from Hokusai's series, "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji". JP Post has issued these stamps in 2011 as part of a minisheet of 10 different ukiyo-e prints by Katsushika Hokusai.

Lighthouses from Croatia

 

Lighthouses are a very popular subject for postcards and stamps. These two are from Croatia. On the card, the lighthouse in Mulo, built in 1873: it is on a tiny island accessible only by boat. The stamp, which shows the lighthouse in Tajer built in 1876, is part of a series of 3 issued by Croatian Post in 2010.

The Fortified Church of Biertan from Romania

 

Posta Romana has issued a great minisheet to celebrate this UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. This was a joint stamp issue with Deutsche Post too. Biertan is one of the most important Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania. It has been listed as an UNESCO WHS in 1993.

Flowers from Belarus

8 сакавіка! 8 March! Here is an International Women's Day greeting card from Belarus! This bunch of flowers (mimosas and tulips on the front, tulips, roses and narcissuses on the stamps) is dedicated to all the women into postcards and stamps, even though, of course, they shall be celebrated every single day of the year.

Neotropical Otters from Brazil

 

The neotropical otter (Latin name: Lontra longicaudis, that literally would be long-tailed otter) is an endangered species from Central and South America. Its name is listed in Appendix I of CITES, as these otters are threatened with extinction. In 2008, Correios has issued a full series of stamps to sensitize people towards the uncertain future of these animals.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from Austria

To celebrate the 220th anniversary of the death of W.A. Mozart, Austrian Post has issued one single stamp that shows a detail of one of his most portrait by Barbara Krafft. Barbara made this paint 28 years after Mozart's death. The same portrait is on the front of the card, together with two views of Salzburg, his home town.