When Ukraine declared full independence in 1917 in response to the Bolshevik revolution, the Ukrainian People's Republic suddenly needed to create all of the symbols of state sovereignty, like a coat of arms, postage stamps, and paper currency, almost from scratch. Postage stamps, of course, were far more important then than they are in today's internet world, and Ukraine enlisted some of the foremost graphic designers of the day to create stamps that conveyed a vision of a free Ukraine.The Ukrainian People's Republic finally did issue its own stamps in 1918. They were designed by Heorhii Narbut and Antin Sereda.