First Rotary Stamps

The twenty-second annual Convention of Rotary International was held at Vienna, Austria, from 22nd to 26th June 1931.

On that occasion, the first postage stamp ever to be issued in honour of any service club was released by the Austrian government.

Using six of the eleven original designs of the popular pictorial issue of 1929–30, they were overprinted in various colours with a Rotary emblem and the words - “Convention Wien 1931”

Fifty thousand sets were issued which were sold out within two days of release during the convention. The greatest part was acquired by collectors and kept as mint singles. A few exist in blocks of four. A large number was put on covers and cancelled at the convention. Only a few were used for regular postage bearing a normal cancellation.

The stamps depict various heritage buildings of pre-World War II vintage in the important cities of Austria; noteworthy is the one Schilling stamp, which features the National Library.