Stamps with state-of-the-art technology in 2014

Despite a whole host of innovations, the collection is a balance of tradition and modernity. A number of technical tours de force will catch the eye in 2014.

Comic strip author François Schuiten has created the first official Belgian augmented reality stamp. When you put the sheet in front of a webcam, you travel through landscapes on the computer screen.

But that's not the end of the technological innovation. For instance, the Brussels skyline appears on the Earth Hour stamp under a black light. The programme also includes the first round postage stamp sheet, celebrating the Football World Cup in Brazil. The International Year of Crystallography is presented in transparent stamps that show the structure of an ice crystal.

To mark International Women's Day, a stamp will be released including fragments from the UN's Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. bpost even tries for a Guinness World Record certificate with that one.

Belgian art is again featured prominently in the 2014 collection. Renowned artist Michaël Borremans has painted a special piece for a unique stamp. He follows in the footsteps of Luc Tuymans, who did the same in 2011. René Magritte is the subject of the art booklet "Ceci est un timbre". There will also be a Hergé series, with ten masterly portraits of his Tintin characters.

The issue commemorating the Centenary of the First World War has a very special place in 2014. It will be the first in a series to be issued over five years, which is how long the Great War lasted.

Says Johnny Thijs, CEO of bpost: "State-of-the-art technology and firsts are key aspects of our 2014 stamp collection. We add an original extra dimension to a substantial number of stamps. In doing so, we often use new technologies. It is a way to reinforce the modernity of the postage stamp and philately."

Here is the list of all issues scheduled for 2014:

27 January
Dogs at close range Fantastic flora

17 February
By Michaël Borremans Buzin differently

10 March
International Women's Day Earth Hour 2014

22 April
Tintin and friends Humani Corporis fabrica (Andreas Vesalius 500)

10 June
Hockey World Cup The Hague Brazil 2014 Crystals X-rayed

7 July
The Panama Canal 100 The Saxophone (Europe) Mines in Wallonia

8 September
'Ceci est un timbre' (Magritte art booklet) Grote Markt, Antwerp (Promotion of Philately)

6 October
The world of trains Little Spirou The Great War

27 October
Optical illusions A gift stamp (end-of-year issue)!

Pictures of the stamps are available at http://www.bpost.be/en/press/pictures/index.html.