In 1894, reflecting a growing national pride, the Postmaster-General issued a public invitation for designs for a stamp issue ‘symbolic of the land’. The competition received around 2,400 entries. The stamps were the first in the world to show scenery – a radical break from the tradition of stamps showing the head of the sovereign. The halfpenny stamp showed Aoraki/Mt Cook surrounded by two species of alpine flowers, a Celmisia and a Mt Cook lily (Ranunculus lyallii).
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Reference: 1898 Pictorial stamp issue
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