Vignette (philately)

In philately, the vignette is the central part of a postage stamp design, such as, a monarch's head or a pictorial design, which often shades off gradually to the edges of the stamp.

[1][2] The central vignette is often surrounded by a frame.

Often times the vignette and frame are engraved on a single plate, while sometimes there are two separate plates for the frame and vignette, where the vignette may be printed separately and is often of a different color.

[3] Printing errors have sometimes led to the vignette being inverted.

A different use of the term vignette in philately is to describe publicity labels or poster stamps which do not have postal validity,[4] such as those produced in France during World War One by Delandre.