Zoroastrian stamp

The Creatingawareness Group of North America chose the 4,000-year Cypress tree Sarv (Sarv-e Abarkooh or Abar­ghooh) near Yazd, Iran to depict the Zoroastrian community on a Canadian stamp. The photograph by Arya Zartosht Iranpour of Vancouver was one of three interesting artworks/photographs received from the community, writes Dolly Dastoor, former president of FEZANA.

"The Sarv tree (is) symbolic of the strength, vibrancy and rich foliage of the Zarathushti religion. As the tree has stood firm through the vagaries of time, so also has our reli­gion,” says Dastoor. This tree is said to be very special to the Zarathush­tis of Iran because it is akin to another tree in Northern Iran, believed to have been planted by Zarathushtra, which was cut down 12 centuries ago by the order of an Arab Caliph, she notes.

Cypress from Yazd on Canda­dian stamp

Canada Post provides its citizens a facility to create personalized photo stickers. Stickers of the desired picture produced by the postal authorities can be peeled off and affixed to empty stamp frames to create a stamp of one’s choice. To order additional Picture Postage Stamps, one merely quotes the reorder number located in the center of the stamp sheet.

Two other entries had also featured at the penultimate selection. Sheeraz Yazdi Wania of Dubai had submitted an origi­nal modernistic artwork on acrylic titled "Kushti.” Wania had noted that her design portrays "the knot (of the kushti) which ties us together as one community, as one people.”

The Patte (Suzandouzi), designed and made by a Zar­athushti, depicting the glory, the simplicity and the variety of life was the third entry among the semifinalists, as per Dastoor’s email. The photograph was submitted by Manou­chehr Iranpour, states Dastoor.