The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers, which was defined as a nonprofit, non-wage and noncareer action that individuals carry out for the well-being of their neighbours, community or society at large. Japan made the proposal of the year in 1987.
The stamp depicts heliotrope and flax, of which language of flowers are "devotion and sincerity" for heliotrope and "feeling your kindness" for flax.
