Visible Language Policy - Bilingualism and Multilingualism on Postage Stamps

Abstract

The postage stamp is a highly visible, internationally circulated symbol of national identity. Stamps of countries on all continents reflect official bilingualism: the two most striking, carefully observed contemporary instances, Belgium and Canada, both show a slow, painful historical movement from original monolingualism to today's scrupulous bilingualism. In Third World nations, language identity has sometimes changed, sometimes remained unchanged since independence. Minority languages have increasingly been represented on postage stamps. Languages of wider communication, chiefly English and French, are used by some countries, avoided by others. Others seek a politically neutral language in Latin or Esperanto. Postage stamps are testimony to language change, language policy, and language reform. In them, language policy is visible.