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Canadian Nurses Association

Canadian stamp Nurse association 1

Date of issue: July 30, 1958
Printer: Canadian Bank Note Company
Design: Gerald Mathew Trottier

Canadian Nurses Association

The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) was founded in 1908 when representatives from 16 Canadian nursing bodies met in Ottawa to form the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses (CNATN). By 1924, every province was represented; in that year, the group changed its name to the Canadian Nurses Association. The organization has since grown to represent over 135,000 nurses throughout the country, with goals of improving health outcomes and strengthening Canada’s publicly funded, not-for-profit health system.

The Stamp

The stamps commemorate the 50th and 100th anniversaries of the Association. The earlier one shows a capped and somewhat serious appearing nurse in profile. This was the first Canadian stamp in which a living model (other than a monarch) was used to illustrate a stamp’s theme. Depictions of three types of nursing activity – caring, treating, and helping – can be seen on the first-day cover. The nurse in the 2008 stamp also has a professional demeanor, emphasized by the tray of medical instruments that she is carrying. The background color is meant to represent the ambiance of a hospital room at night.

The lamps to the left of the nurse on the 1958 stamp and in the CNA logos on thefirst day covers derive from Florence Nightingale, who carried one while she made her night-time patient rounds (“the Lady of the Lamp”). The 1958 logo was created specifically for the 50th anniversary; in addition to the symbolic lamp, it included a maple leaf to emphasize the association’s Canadian roots. An updated 1994 logo maintains the lamp and maple leaf but in more stylized versions; the two parallel flames are meant to underline the bilingual nature of the Association.

Canadian stamp 100 Anniversary Nurse association

Date of issue: June 16, 2008
Printer: Canadian Bank Note Company
Design: Gottschalk+Ash International

Canadian Nurse association first day cover envelope 2008

Canadian Nurse association first day cover envelope 1958 second version

Canadian Nurse association first day cover envelope 1958

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