First day loyalty bonus stamp, commemorative stamp Native birds – northern lapwing, spring supplementary stamp

Loyalty bonus stamp 2025 – Hibiscus

Floral splendour

With a beautiful hibiscus blossom featured on the loyalty bonus stamp, Austrian Post expresses its appreciation to its loyal subscribers.

The genus Hibiscus belongs to the mallow family. There are hundreds of species, native primarily to tropical and subtropical regions. Hibiscus plants may grow as herbaceous plants, shrubs or trees; some species are perennial and hardy. Particularly striking are the magnificent flowers, each formed by five large petals. The stamens are fused into a tube that protrudes prominently from the flower. After flowering, capsule fruits containing the seeds develop.

Hibiscus flowers are admired for their spectacular colours and shapes. Tropical species often have especially large blooms in vibrant colours ranging from white, yellow, orange, red and pink to shades of purple. The base of the flower is sometimes darker in colour. Many cultivated varieties are used as houseplants or planted in parks and gardens, although most are not frost-resistant. The petals are used to make tea, and some varieties are also used as medicinal plants or for dyeing. Their lush blossoms symbolise exoticism and wanderlust; in some countries they are even regarded as national flowers and symbolise beauty, joy or power depending on the cultural context. In Austria, the garden hibiscus, also known as rose of Sharon, is a popular shrub that enhances gardens with its many attractive flowers. Hibiscus is also sometimes referred to as marsh mallow, although it is only distantly related to the true marsh mallow.

Northern lapwing

An aerial artist above the fields

The northern lapwing, Austria’s Bird of the Year 2026, is the third motif in the "Native birds" series, in which Austrian Post, in cooperation with BirdLife Austria, presents endangered bird species.

The lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), about the size of a pigeon, is a striking sight in open farmland thanks to its black and white plumage with a metallic green sheen and its distinctive crest. With a bit of luck, it can be observed between March and May performing its fast and spectacular tumbling courtship display flights above its territory.

Lapwings build their nests on the ground in the middle of fields, preferably in colonies with other lapwings, as they work together to defend against potential predators. However, this offers little protection against the dangers posed by agricultural activities. Farmland has become a substitute habitat for the wet meadows and sparsely vegetated undisturbed areas they have lost. Since 1998, Austria has lost half of its lapwing population. In BirdLife Austria’s traffic-light conservation list, which categorises bird species according to their conservation needs, the lapwing is classified at the highest threat level (red), and in Carinthia it is on the brink of extinction. To prevent this, nests on farmland must be protected and chicks must be provided with feeding habitats such as wet patches, damp areas, field margins and fallow land near breeding sites. Especially in wet areas, young birds are able to feed independently shortly after hatching and, ideally, breed themselves the following year.

Spring

Nature awakens

Following the four seasons, and after winter and summer, this year’s block of supplementary stamps is now dedicated to spring.

Once again, beautiful flowers adorn this block, which contains ten stamps in six different low denominations. These can be used individually or in combination with older stamps whose face values no longer correspond to current postal rates. Alternatively, an item of mail can be franked entirely with supplementary stamps – their different denominations allow many postage levels to be covered.

The stamp block features floral illustrations in a fresh spring-like yellow-green colour scheme, complemented by cheerful pink lettering. The typical spring flower depicted is the daffodil, a popular garden flower that exists in numerous species and countless hybrid varieties. Daffodils are bulb plants belonging to the amaryllis family. Depending on the species and the region, they are also known as Lent lilies or Easter lilies, as they typically bloom around Easter. Their attractive flowers come in a wide variety of forms – large or small, single or double – and in white, yellow and orange. Characteristic is the so-called corona, the inner cup-shaped structure of the flower, which is often coloured differently from the six outer tepals. Most daffodil species originate from southern Europe; in Austria, the star daffodil is particularly well known and plays a central role in the annual Narcissus Festival in the Salzkammergut region.

When? 

14 March 2026 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Presentation at 10:00 a.m.

Where? 
Stadtwerke-Hartberg-Halle, Wiesengasse 43, 8230 Hartberg

Group images, picture 1
Picture of presentation: © Österreichische Post AG
Theresa Radlingmaier (stamp designer), Markus Gaugl (deputy mayor), Armin Lind (VÖPh, southern chapter), Lisa Filzi (stamp designer), Martina Prinz (Head of Philately POS at Austrian Post), Brigitte Heiden (stamp designer), Bernhard Schwarz (president, ABSV Hartberg), Monika Pratter (BSV Hartberg)