The four stamps depict different historical and operational contexts related to ham radio communications within the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and specifically:

the € 1.20 stamp depicts Guglielmo Marconi wearing the insignia of Grand Magistral Cross of the Order of Malta and Knight Grand Cross of the Order Plan of the Holy See. Next to the portrait is one of the first radio apparatuses made by Marconi and a characteristic Marconian ‘square’ antenna. Completing the vignette is the diagram of an electromagnetic wave and Guglielmo Marconi’s signature taken from the letter of 11 November 1931, kept in the Magistral Archives, in which the scientist thanked Grand Master Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere for his nomination as Grand Magistral Cross of the Order of Malta;

the € 1.25 stamp depicts the operations room of the 1A0C amateur radio station of the Order of Malta’s Italian Relief Corps, with two operators intent on transmitting. A stylised depiction of a radioantenna completes the vignette;

the € 2.40 stamp depicts a volunteer of the Order of Malta Italian Relief Corps at the radio transmitter during a natural disaster. In the background is the scene of a flood and a depiction of an electromagnetic wave;

the € 3.10 stamp depicts Villa Magistrale with, in the foreground, a characteristic radio antenna used during the periodic connections made by the Order of Malta’s radio amateurs in support of the Order’s charitable and welfare projects. In the background is a graphic representation of a transmitting antenna, with the initials 1A, the amateur radio prefix adopted by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

On each stamp there are the inscriptions “SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA” and “POSTE MAGISTRALI”, the coat of arms of the Order’s activities and the face value, respectively “€ 1.20”, “€ 1.25”, “€ 2.40” and “€ 3.10”. On the margin of the sheet of eight stamps (two for each stamp) there are, repeated, the cross of the Order of Malta and the international symbol of radio amateurs.