Faroese postal service honours handball stars with stamps
Following qualification for the Men’s and Women’s EHF EUROs for the first time ever, the handball hype in the Faroe Islands has been rising more and more.
More than 5,000 fans, which means almost 10 per cent of the whole Faroese population, travelled to watch their men’s team at the EHF EURO in January 2024 in Berlin — including a week of partying and creating a thrilling, emotional atmosphere in the Mercedes-Benz Arena (now Uber Arena) with their chants and songs. Only some months later, the women’s team clinched their very first EHF EURO berth. And they were accompanied by their fans for the final tournament matches in Basel, Switzerland.
Parallel to the opening of their brand-new 3,000-seat national handball arena Við Tjarnir, which saw its national team debut with a thrilling 32:32 draw against the Netherlands in round 3 of the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers, the Faroe Islands Postal Service have taken their turn honouring the sport.
The Postal Service have published a set of stamps with two of their big handball stars: The 25KR stamp features Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, who currently plays for THW Kiel in Germany, while the 48KR stamp showcases Jana Mittún, who plays for the Danish club Viborg HK. Both are key players for their respective national handball teams, and they happen to be cousins.
The picture for the Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu stamp was taken by Slovenian photographer Uros Hocevar — founder, CEO and creative director of kolektiff images — during the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 match Faroe Islands versus Poland. Hocevar was the official EHF photographer at the game. “It is a great honour for kolektiff images that, for the first time ever, one of our pictures was selected for a stamp,” says Hocevar. The picture of Mittún was taken by Álvur Haraldsen at a Faroe Islands national team match.
For Gunn Ellefsen, President of the Faroe Islands Handball Federation, this set of stamps represents appreciation for the development of handball in his country: “We are happy and proud that the Faroese postal service is depicting handball in its newest release. Stamps normally reflect something which identifies a nation and is of historic importance, and the recent EHF EURO participations of our women’s and men’s national teams have awoken emotions which have resonated throughout the Faroese society.”
But how do the players feel about being pictured on a stamp? Mittún is “just grateful to be a part of this journey and humbled to be depicted on a stamp. Our team has experienced great support lately, especially in the EHF EURO in Basel.”
Her cousin, Skipagøtu, nicknamed “Skippy” in Kiel, shares her impressions: “I am proud to be a part of our national team and our recent results and EURO participation. We have the best fans and to a have a stamp is also a sign of the great support we have in our country.”
All fans of Faroe Islands handball have the chance to order the stamps online here.
Main photo: Álvur Haraldsen
