The post horn is one of the most recurring images in stamp design. Many countries have used it in philatelic series that have been used for several years, after which they are changed for new designs. However, we have discovered that this has not always been the case – the Norwegian postal service has the honour of having used the post horn image on its stamps for over 140 years. With stamp series of a lower value, the horn is shown framing the price of the stamp.

This design has remained almost identical ever since the first such stamp was issued in 1871. In order to survive for over a century, it has had to adapt to changes in government and currency. The only thing that has been changed and modernised periodically is the printing method. If we look through the different series, we can see that the earlier ones were printed using the letterpress method, and then in the 1930s this was changed for the photogravure technique. In the 1960s, monitoring systems were improved and reproduction was carried out using intaglio. The biggest change took place in the late 1990s, when the introduction of lithography meant that the image was printed in more than two tones.