The Hashemite Regime on Jordanian Postage Stamps: A Visual History of Nation-Building

Abstract

This study will examine the political use of stamps to preserve the Hashemite heritage. It will focus on how Jordanian stamps combine images of the Hashemite royal family with Arab, Islamic, and Palestine-themed symbols to strengthen the legitimacy and stability of the Hashemite monarchy and develop a Jordanian national identity. In the first period (1921–1947), stamps emphasized images of King Abdullah I, founder and first monarch of the Emirate of Transjordan, to bolster legitimacy of Hashemite rule in Transjordan and forge a bond between Transjordanians and Hashemites. In the second period (1948–1967), Palestine motifs complimented images of the Hashemites to construct a hybrid identity consisting of one Jordanian family including Transjordanians and Palestinians. In the third period (1972–1999), Transjordanian, Arab and Islamic, and military themes accompanied Hashemite images. This tumultuous period witnessed Israel’s conquest of the West Bank, the 1971 Black September insurgency between the Jordanian army and fedayeen, and King Hussein’s West Bank disengagement decision in 1988. While Palestinian and Transjordanian themes fluctuated, recurrence of Hashemite images and symbols sought to convince Jordanians that the kingdom’s long-term stability and security will always be destined with the monarchy even if its borders or relationship with the Palestinians change.

Keywords

propaganda postage stamps national identity banal nationalism visual methodologies Jordan Hashemite

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