ABSTRACT
Over the long twentieth century, the engagement with the Arctic by the US, Canada and Russia has transitioned and evolved. Throughout this time, they have found new ways to communicate and exercise effective occupation in their performances of sovereignty as they attempt to legitimise their ownership of the Arctic. Throughout the four periods that this research has discussed, from the Age of Discovery through to the contemporary, post-Cold War period, there are differences in the production of the visual representations in the postage stamps of the US, Canada and Russia. When the Arctic postage stamps of these states were categorised according to the images on the issues, five clear themes emerged: nature, indigenous people, effective occupation, exploration and finally, maps, flags and territory. These themes were selected to align with the policy trends in Arctic postage stamps to allow 'for critical analysis of the social and power relations framing philatelic iconography'.
