Ondulating cancellation

In French, the philatelic expression « Flamme » ("flame" in English, here "illustrated cancellation") is born with the first mechanical cancellation. The date mark was linked to a long design in order to cancel all stamps on the cover. Long... so was chosen a flag or, in heraldic, an oriflame (see examples on marquespostales.free.fr).

In France, the design lasted with long-period ondulations, long enough to evoke a floating flag in the wind (this kind of wind is very difficult to find when you want a picture of a floating flag...).



In Iceland, the period is very short, the ondulation is nervous... even maritime. You can feel the Northen Atlantic in this cancellation. The cover was sent by the philatelic service of the Pósturinn (Iceland Post for the international public).