Mathematics on stamps

The depiction of mathematics on stamps began in 1923 with the issue of a set of three Polish stamps commemorating the 450th birth anniversary of the astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus. As the definition of what constitutes a valid mathematical stamp is not universally agreed, some collectors make the case that the first mathematical stamp was the 1847 United States issue depicting the polymath Benjamin Franklin even though he was not primarily a mathematician; others prefer to recognize the 1926 German Leibniz stamp as the first depicting a mathematician.

The total number of mathematical stamps that have been issued is approximately 1,600 as of 2024.

A mathematical stamp has one or more of the following characteristics:

Stamps illustrating applied mathematics such as astronomy, ballistics, cartography, crystallography, mathematical art, mathematical games, navigation, perspective in art and spaceflight may or may not be included in a mathematical stamp collection depending on the breadth of view of the collector. Typically such stamps may depict a mathematically related object or instrument, e.g. an astrolabe or a slide rule.

The following types of material are excluded (although they may also be collected by mathematical stamp enthusiasts):

Stamps depicting individual mathematicians are often issued by countries to commemorate the birth or death anniversaries of their significant national mathematicians, for example stamps issued by Norway celebrating Niels Henrik Abel. Examples are illustrated in the gallery above. Some countries have also issued stamps depicting internationally famous mathematicians such as Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein.

Stamps depicting a mathematical concept or object, sometimes combined with a portrait of the mathematician responsible for inventing the concept or object, are generally issued as commemorative stamps rather than definitive stamps. Examples are shown in the gallery above: a 1955 Greek stamp illustrating the Pythagorean theorem, a 1967 Brazilian stamp illustrating a Möbius strip and also commemorating the 6th Brazilian mathematical congress, a 1977 West German stamp illustrating the complex plane and also commemorating the 200th birth anniversary of Carl Gauss, and a 1998 German stamp illustrating squaring a rectangle and also commemorating an International Mathematical Congress.

Stamps depicting a mathematical symbol or formula are frequently depicted together with the mathematician they are primarily associated with. Examples are shown in the gallery above: a 1966 Soviet stamp illustrating the integral, summation and union symbols and also commemorating an International Mathematical Congress, a 2000 Russian stamp illustrating the pi, function and summation symbols and commemorating the life of Nikolai Luzin, a 2000 Czech stamp illustrating Fermat's Last Theorem and commemorating Andrew Wiles's 1995 proof, and a 2023 Serbian stamp illustrating the Fibonacci sequence and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Mathematical Society of Serbia.