Second Postal Standard 1993

The Second Issue of Standard Postage Stamps of Ukraine (1993): Ethnographic Images of “Ancient Ukraine”
The series of standard postage stamps released on December 18, 1993, became not only an example of high-quality printing art but also a visual chronicle of Ukrainian national identity. These miniature works of art encapsulated the spirit of traditional Ukrainian life — in labor, travel, everyday living, and culture.

1. Mowers — 50 karbovanets (green stamp)
   The first stamp depicts mowers at the height of the harvest season. This is more than just a scene of agricultural labor — it is an ode to harmony between man and nature, the rhythm of the sickle, the song, the sun, and the fragrant hay. The image is rich in symbolism of abundance and love for one’s native land.

2. Chumaks — 100 karbovanets (blue stamp)
   The second stamp in the series presents a poetic image of the chumaks — the eternal travelers of Ukrainian roads who transported salt, fish, and grain. Their ox-drawn carts resemble boats of history, sailing along the paths of fate, carrying the burden of household life and hope.

3. Shepherd — 150 karbovanets (red-pink stamp)
   The third stamp shows a shepherd among his sheep, in the quiet expanses of the Carpathians or the Black Sea steppes. This image embodies peace, wisdom, and a connection to one’s ancestors. It is an allegory of responsibility, harmony with nature, and the stillness of traditional existence.

4. Reapers — 200 karbovanets
   Two female figures reaping wheat with sickles and binding it into sheaves. A symbol of abundance and fertility of Ukrainian lands.

5. Shepherd — 300 karbovanets
   A shepherd with his flock of sheep against a hilly landscape — a classic depiction of livestock farming in the Ukrainian steppes.

6. Reapers — 500 karbovanets
   A complex scene of collective harvest labor: several women engaged in reaping and binding sheaves. An expanded version of the 200-karbovanets stamp with similar compositional detail.

Technical Details of the Series:

• Release date: December 18, 1993

• Size: 18.5 × 26 mm

• Designer: Yurii Lohvyn

• Printing method: Offset

• Format: Standard definitive stamp

• Perforation: Comb 12 × 12¼

• Color: Bright green (with variations for each denomination)

• Print run: Over 10 million stamps per denomination (total print run — over 120 million)

• Denominations: 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, 500 Ukrainian karbovanets

This Ukrainian postage stamp series became a philosophical and artistic bridge between the past and the present. It captured in fine detail the grandeur of the Ukrainian spirit — its diligence, nomadic destiny, musicality, and the strength to preserve tradition in an era of profound transformation. That is why these stamps remain iconic artifacts from the formative period of modern Ukrainian statehood.