Josef Herčík was a Czech graphic artist and engraver. He trained at the Zbrojovka in Uherský Brod, where he then worked as an engraver of weapon decorations. After the war, he privately studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague with Vladimír Pukl. He then devoted himself to graphics. In the early 60s, he also began to engage in stamp design. He was the author or co-author of more than 400 postage stamps. He worked on the creation of postage stamps for Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic, the United Nations, Kuwait, Monaco and Japan. He was the author of the first stamp of the independent Czech Republic; this stamp was issued on January 20, 1993, it is a three-crown stamp and it depicts a small state emblem.