This year the United Nations and the British Red Cross celebrate their fiftieth and one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversaries respectively. It is a timely opportunity to reflect on the ideals of peace and freedom which are promoted by the work of both organizations, and to remember that it is exactly 50 years since the end of the Second World War. VE-Day is commemorated on 8 May and VJ-Day on 15 August. These Royal Mail stamps, in line with the Europa theme agreed by European postal administrations, offer thought-provoking visual interpretations of peace and freedom.

THE FIRST STAMP symbolises the role of the British Red Cross Society (founded in 1870) in providing impartial care to people in need and in crisis, at home and abroad, in peace and in war.

THE SECOND & THIRD STAMPS celebrate the work of the UN. Although peace-keeping is probably its most familiar role, the greater part of the UN's efforts are devoted to the elimination of the causes of conflict – such as the absence of human freedom. The second stamp portrays the concept of freedom, while the third symbolises the world at peace, a goal towards which the UN has worked since 1945.

THE FOURTH & FIFTH STAMPS commemorate the end of the Second World War. Overjoyed soldiers and civilians celebrate together on the fourth stamp, while the final stamp captures St Paul's in London heralding the dawn of long-awaited peace and freedom 50 years ago.