Design errors

Living beings

Move the cursor over the small pictures for an enlarged view

Missing leg A camel with only three legs, or seven legs for two camels, it is up to you to choose… (FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA - 1946)


Hand with six fingers ! It is well known that President Roosevelt was a philatelist, but have you ever heard that he had 6 fingers at his left hand ? (MONACO - 1947)


Missing finger. Witch with only four fingers at both hands. (GERMANY - 1951)


Missing leg. Missing leg : only seven legs for two horses. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1946)


Missing finger. The player with a white and red shirt misses a finger at his right hand (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1961)


Female christmas child. Cover of an airmail letter. Take a discreet look at the baby, it is a GIRL ! (UNITED KINGDOM - )


Inverted and corrected ears. After this stamp has been issued, it was discovered that the poor man had inverted ears. Fortunately for him, the stamp has been corrected. (AUSTRIA - 1934)


Impossible way of moving A dog never moves his left or rights legs at the same time, but crossed. (UNITED KINGDOM - )


Big steps, small traces Despite their big steps, these strange little men leave small traces in the snow. (GREENLAND - 1962)


Two identical left shoes. Ask this man to uncross his legs, you will see that he is wearing two identical left shoes. (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1964)


Strange acting chinese. This dancing elderly Chinese puts his right arm and right leg forward at the same time. (CHINA - 1987)


Broken little finger Impossible way to spread fingers, even for a well trained sportsman (MONACO - 1952)


Two missing legs. All flying insects, including bees and wasps, have 6 legs. (DENMARK - 1987)


Fast growing beard ! A clean shaven Columbus in sight of land. But a while later, after landing, wearing a magnificent full beard. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1893)


Strange proportions The horse is much too big compared to the size of its horseman (or the man is much too small compared to the horse). (ROMANIA - 1964)


Too much fingers The fame of this billiard player was partly due to the fact that he had lost one finger at his right hand. (AUSTRALIA - 1981)


Big head Comparing to the size of the baby, the head of the mother is far too big. (FRANCE - 1939)


Galloping horse A galloping horse never moves its legs like this ! (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1960)


Strange runners One of the runners puts her 2 arms in front of her, another one holds her 2 arms behind her back. (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1970)


Giant camel Compared to the rider, this camel would at least be 20 meter long ! (AUSTRALIA - )


Missing legs Only six, maybe seven, but certainly not eight legs for those two horses. (BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA - 1918)


Strange position Impossible why to shoot the bowl without falling, with the right foot in front instead of the left one. (BRITISH GUYANA - 1931)


Missing finger. Only four fingers at the right hand (CANADA - 1947)


Impossible position The Olympic rings are linked into a chain : thus the right hand of the athlete in the middle should be in front of the yellow ring, and the left hand of the right athlete should be in front of the green ring. (CHINA - 1984)


Impossible age Gerontolists generally agree that there have never been authenticated cases of human beings reaching such advanced ages. (COLOMBIA - 1956)


Missing front leg This horse clearly has got three hind legs, and only one in front ! (CHINA - 1990)


Strange tail On the cover and on the stamps of this booklet, the rabbit has its tail pointing to the ground. In fact, rabbits have their tail pointing upwards, even in China ! (CHINA - 1987)


Strange handshake An unatural and even impossible way to shake hands (CZECHOSLOVAKIA - 1945)


Missing toe Only 4 toes at the right foot. (FRANCE - 1946)


Wrong blood circulation Incorrect presentation of the human blood circulation : there should be one down and one return path, both splitting somewhere in the middle of the body. (HUNGARY - 1973)


Two left hands Two left hands, and and impossible way to hold the rifle with the left arm. (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1967)


Missing wing. From this place, the second wing of the lion should have been visible. (ITALY - 1952)


Inverted feet. Diver with inverted feet. (JAPAN - 1985)


Wrong hight. President Kennedy was a lot taller than the Mexican President Mateos. (MEXICO - 1964)


Female angel. Angels are supposed to be sexless, but this Mexican angel obviously is equipped with a nice breast. (MEXICO - 1958)


Wrong front flippers. The seal has been criticised because de front flippers were shown clawed. The stamp was redrwn some years later. (NEWFOUNDLAND - 1866)


Missing legs Crabs have 8 legs, two are missing on the Mauritanian stamp. (MAURITANIA - )


Geant fish. Geant fish, too heavy for one man, with a very strange tail. (POLAND - 1947)


Hair miracle General Artigas was almost bald when featured on a stamp in 1883. In 1910 however, he looked much younger with his nice black hair (URUGUAY - 1883)


Missing finger Only four fingers at the right hand. The design was corrected. (URUGUAY - 1900)


Strange grip Impossible use of such an heavy hammer (VENEZUELA - 1964)


Impossible position Impossible position of the right arm during a jump. And where is that other arm ? (CHAD - 1964)


Diffferent length. The right thigh of the kneeling man is much shorter than the left. (SAN MARINO - 1924)


Huge baby The baby is much too big comparing to the nurse, and much too heavy to be hold above her. (MONACO - 1948)


Beardless It is historically proven that Charlemagne was beardless. (FRANCE - 1966)


Without gravity The breasts of this lady seem not to be affected by the gravity. (ZAMBIA - 1981)


Out of proportion The legs of this runner are really out of proportion compared to his body (KAMPUCHEA - 1984)


Not well trained Unrealistic position for a gymnast in very bad physical condition. (BRAZIL - 1957)


One too much Five fingers with one hidden thumb ? Not the exact number for a normal hand. (CHINA - 1998)


Additional legs This crab has been featured with at least one additional pair of legs. (ALBANIA - 1968)


Non symetric The cat right whiskers are shorter than the left ones. (AUSTRALIA - 1971)


Pretty woman The eyes of this local woman seemed a little bit too glazy, so the designer was asked to improve his work before a second issue. (DOMINICA - 1963)


Missing claws In this position, the claws of this Gyrfalcon should have been visible. (SWEDEN - 1981)


Not in line One of the players needs urgent surgery as his body is not in line with his legs. (IVORY COAST - 1990)


Missing leg A camel with a missing frontleg. (CAMEROON - 1946)


Too big The size of the beaver's skins that are drying is too big comparing to the man's length. (CANADA - 1950)


Wrong ears The elephant shown to illustrate the Ceylon Nature Conservation Week is not an Asian one, but an African elephant with large floppy ears. (CEYLON - )


Wrong leg The hoof of the horse is split, this is an horse with legs of an ox. (CHINA - 1985)


Missing clauws The tiger on the stamp has only 2 claws at each leg. In fact the fore leg of a tiger has five claws, the hind leg four. (CHINA - 1987)


Strange tail Hyena with a very strong tail (CUBA - 1964)


Wrong color The Bukkfinch has a black beak, not white as on the stamp (CZECHOSLOVAKIA - 1959)


Missing leg Only seven legs for two camels. (FRENCH OCEANIA - 1946)


Not an African one The elephant has small rounded ears, more like an Asian than an African elephant, and has misplaced tusks. (GAMBIA - 1938)


Shaking hands Strange way to shake hands, with one left and one right hand. (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1953)


Geese with ears This well known folk song starts with : Fox, you have stolen a geese. There is however nothing in the original text indicating that the geese should be provided with long ears. (GERMANY - 1958)


Not quite correct The young foal's hide has the same light colour as her mare - when it should in fact still have its first dark hide. (GERMANY - 1940)


Not crossed Horselegs touch the ground crossed, and not two legs from the same side at the same time. (GERMANY - 1969)


Wrong gender The Neanderthaler skull discovered in Gibraltar in 1848 turned out to be the skull of a women. (GIBRALTAR - 1973)


Bas design The design of one of the orders of chevalry worn by George V was so bad that instead of an elephant, it mas more like a pig. This was corrected afterwards. (INDIA - 1911)


Small head The head is much too small comparing to the size of the body. (SWITZERLAND - 1932)


Strange Head is too small comparing to the body. And a strange competition, without boat and competing with a swan. (YUGOSLAVIA - 1956)


Not Africans Those elephants are very small eared with a high forehead, thus are not African elephants but Asian ones. (NORTHERN RHODESIA - 1925)


Missing leg Only eleven legs for three horses. (SWEDEN - 1936)


Wrong hairdress The Olympic jumper Krzesinska Dunska was represented without her very characteristic poneytail. (POLAND - 1956)


Too big The rower is much too big for the boat. (POLAND - 1955)


Missing leg Only seven legs for two camels. (SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON - 1946)


Wrong position The elephant seal is wrongly shown with its flippers tucked forward underneath, an anatomical impossibility. (TRISTAN DA CUNHA - 1954)


Made up As the female Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) does not differ from the male bird, one of those stamps has to be a 'made up'. (YUGOSLAVIA - 1985)


Premature commemoration Stamp issued to mark the National Recovery Act in 1933. But this Act was declared unconstitutional and thrown out by the Supreme Court in 1935. Furthermore a man with a missing leg. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1933)


Flying problems This angels with only one wing will not fly easily, and the plane without rudders will not fly at all. (CANADA - )


Wrong direction The claws of upside down sleeping bats are directed forwards, not backwards (GERMANY - 1999)


Wrong representation This Brachiosaurus did not live in water, and his forelegs are too small. (SAN MARINO - 1965)


Forearm Missing forearm (MONGOLIA - 1980)


Additional fin This Permit fish has got an extra fin (coming from a small triangular shadow on the photo from whoch the artist made the design). (TURKS AND CAICOS - 1955)


Wrong name Wrong : Francolinus Stephenson - Correct : Francolinus Stephens. The prominent leg spurs have also been omitted. (VIET NAM - 1963)


Wrong fish This is certainly not a Tarpon, amongst other characteristics, the Tarpon has a blunt head and only one dorsal fin. (SAINT CHRISTOPHER - 1968)


Missing leg Missing leg at the right side (MALI - 1966)


Missing leg Missing leg : only seven legs for two camels. (MALAGASY - 1946)


Missing leg Missing leg : only seven legs for two camels. (FRENCH GUYANA - 1946)


Wrong direction The foal is shown feeding from behind. The correct way to feed is shown on a British stamp and on a picture. (SWEDEN - 1946)


Bad circulation The blood circulation in the head and the left leg is interrupted. (FRANCE - 2001)


Not local Those are not French Camargue bulls (with vertical horns) but Spanish bulls with horizontal horns. (FRANCE - 1995)


Out of proportion Thumb is not in proportion comparing to the other fingers. (SENEGAL - 1979)


Name and teeth Wrong : Hyppopotamus - Correct : Hippopotamus. Furthermore, the upper teeth are missing. (GUINEA BISSAU - 1997)


Wrong ears The Landrace-pig has pending ears (FRANCE - 2017)


Too big This squirrel is far too big comparing to the branch it is climbing on. (BULGARIA - )


Twice strange The name 'world jamboree' is at least strange, as a jamboree is already a world reunion of scouts. And such geant squarrels with a rabbit head do not exist, even in Norway. (GRENADA - 1975)


Strong fingers Put all the weight of the body on four stretched fingers is even for a well trained sportsdman impossible. (BULGARIA - 1964)


Bad food This prey is really too lean, the lion will still be hungry after his meal. (DAHOMEY - 1963)


Wrong tail A deer does not have aan upwards pointing tail. (SAN MARINO - 1962)


One too much The leaves of an marple tree are never attached by three. (CANADA - 1959)


Tail A deer does not have a tail. (GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC - 1959)


Out of proportion The bird is too big comparing to the plane. (SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON - )


Too small The size of this tennisball is far too small comparing to the hand. (NETHERLANDS - 2012)


Wrong direction An hibernating bat hangs with its claws turned backwards. (TONGA - 1992)


Strange animal This cow is completely out of proportions. (UNITED KINGDOM - 1999)


Leg problems Horse with a missing, and a broken leg. (SWEDEN - 1956)


Missing legs Crab with a missing pair of legs (BRAZIL - 1993)


Strange hand Hand with two thumbs (ALGERIA - 2012)


Strange position Trained oxes to pull the plow synchroneously ? (SPAIN - 1967)


Huge leg With such a huge leg, it should be easy to win teh match. (HUNGARY - 1985)


Missing finger Missing finger at the right hand (ISRAEL - 1987)


Missing fingers Only four fingers at each hand (CHINA - 2009)


Missing legs The number of elefants is not clear, but in any case, a lot of legs are missing. (UGANDA - 1991)


Too small The size of the head is much too small comparing to the books. (LAO - 1988)


Additional fingers Two men seem the have an additional finger (ALAND - 1998)


Missing hair The mustache of this cat is not symmetrical (SLOVENIA - 2006)


Missing fingers ? One of the players seems to have only 4 fingers at each hand. (BELGIUM - 1987)


Additional finger Six fingers at the right hand with the umbrella. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1963)


Wrong aspect Centenary of the Japanese National Education : this stamp features a Western looking girl, instead of a Japanese one. (JAPAN - 1972)


Missing legs All flying insects, including bees and wasps, have 6 legs. The cover of this booklet shows only 4 legs. (DENMARK - 1987)


Legs not in balance A horse moves front and back legs at the same time. (UNITED KINGDOM - 1999)


Missing legs Four horses have sixteen legs. At least two are missing here. (NEW CALEDONIA - 1973)


Wrong cheek Marilyn Monroe had a birthmark on her right cheek, not on the left side (SAINT TOME AND PRINCIPE - 1994)


Missing legs Four horses, but only 13 of 14 legs ! (EL SALVADOR - 1948)


Fingers Missing fingers (COLOMBIA - 1970)


Missing legs A mosquito has six legs (SAINT TOME AND PRINCIPE - 1962)


Missing legs A bee has six legs (RWANDA - 1982)


Wrong side Thumb at the wrond side of the hand (SPAIN - 2020)


Too many claws The Tyrannosaurus rex has only 2 claws, not five. (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - 1988)


Missing legs Wasp with only 3 legs (PHILIPPINES - 1988)


Missing legs Not enough legs for six horses (INDIA - )


Missing legs Only three legs! (INDIA - 1980)


Missing members Not only dangerous for the children, but also a missing arm and leg (CZECH REPUBLIC - 2015)