Vatican Post Office’s joint issue to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the foundation of the Italian Red Cross

Torches lit in solidarity

One hundred and sixty years since th foundation of the Italian Red Cross in Milan on 15 June 1864, four States will jointly issue a commemorative stamp: the Postal Administrations of Vatican City State, Italy, San Marino and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The stamp will be officially presented on Saturday morning 15 June in Rome at Piazza Venezia 11, the offices of the Civita Association, an organization dedicating to promoting/enhancing the cultural hertage of Italy. Four images wof the stamp will be unveiled, one for each State. The stamp depicts a rescue scene at the site of the collapseof the Polcevera Viaduct, known as Morandi Bridge in Genoa on 14 August 2018. The sides of the miniature sheets depict lit torches recalling the torchlight procession promoted by the Italian Red Cross that takes place each year from Solverino to Castiglione ddelle Stiviere, two highly symbolic places linked to the birth of the Red Cross. During a battle on 24 June 1859, Swiss citizen Jen Henry Dunant went to meet Napoleon III for business and became involved in a terrible bloodbath which was even more dramatic diue to  lcak of military healthcare. At tha time, Dunant had the sinspiration of setting up a voluneer movemen to aid the wounded on the battlefield.