London
is making history as the first city ever to host the Olympic Games
three times - in 1908, 1948 and 2012. It is also making history by
bringing many attractive and innovative postage stamps to commemorate
the 30th Olympics. Stamps on sports events, especially Olympics, are
quite popular among the philatelists and sports people. Most of the
sports lovers are much interested to have the rare collection of stamps
released during international sports events, specially the Stamps on
Olympics. That's the reason, many countries across the world are
bringing out special stamps on Olympics . Interestingly, when the first
Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, 12 postage stamps were issued
by the host country Greece. These stamps were issued not only to focus
on the greatest sports event in the international sporting arena but
also to raise additional revenue for conducting the Games.
In the countdown to London 2012 Royal Mail is issuing 30 stamps for the 30th Olympiad and the London 2012 Paralympics Games.
Each stamp champions an Olympic or Paralympics Sport and they are
issued in three sets of ten stamps each. Merging stunning photography of
Olympic disciplines and London landmarks, the Miniature Sheet of stamps
is unique and dramatic in equal measure. It also features the London
2012 Emblem in its border. On the inaugural day of the event, Royal Mail
unveiled a set of four Olympic stamps featuring athletes from four of
the most popular events alongside London landmarks. They show a cyclist,
a fencer, a diver and runners beside Tate Modern, Tower Bridge, the
Olympic Stadium and the London Eye. These attractive stamps combining
the sports events along with the London landmarks have become a great
hit across the world and orders for these stamps have been pouring.
In
unprecedented move for Great Britain, Royal Mail has announced that it
will issue a new stamp to celebrate each and every British Gold Medal.
It is a great tribute to Britain's Olympians that really sticks. No
doubt, it's a great way to acknowledge and honour the Gold medal winners
of Olympics 2012. Winning an Olympic gold medal is the pinnacle of any
athlete's career and the Gold medal stamps capture these moments in the
sporting history of the country. Definitely, for the athletes, it's a
special honour to be acknowledged in such an iconic way. The plan is to
make as many of the stamps as possible featuring photographs of the
athlete or team during competition. It sounds quite interesting and
innovative. This is how it will work. As soon as one of the British
athletes wins a Gold Medal, the Royal Mail design team will start work
on the winner's design. Within an hour or so of victory, digital
artwork will be sent to six security printers around the country who
will work over-night to ensure delivery of the new stamps in time for
'the next day' issue of the stamps. What an innovative and interesting
concept to promote stamps and at the same time to promote sports!
The
Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost sports
competition in which thousands of athletes from different nations
participate in a variety of competitions. The sports persons from
different nations, culture and background come together and compete
fairly and honestly to promote peace and harmony. India Post has been
commemorating national and international sports events by releasing
special postage stamps. For the London 2012 Olympic Games, India Post
released a set of four commemorative postage stamps and a souvenir
sheet on the theme 'Inspire a Generation'. The stamps are a stylized
portrayal of sportsmen engaged in Volleyball, Rowing, Sailing and
Badminton.
Australia Post has a
long tradition of supporting Olympics through series of stamps. During
London 2012, Australia Post is celebrating Australia’s success at past
Olympic Games with three stamps representing discipline of Swimming,
sport of Rowing and the event of Pole Vault. This stamp issue, designed
by Melbourne-based designer Jonathan Chong, comprises one domestic
base-rate stamp (Swimming), one international postcard-rate stamp (Pole
Vault) and one international letter-rate stamp (Rowing). Each stamp
features a colourful image of an athlete in action against a stark white
background. This stamp issue is part of Australia Post’s continuing
support of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team. Australia Post has already
released The Road to London stamp on 5 June to commemorate the London
Olympic Games. It features several iconic London landmarks and pays
tribute to the hard work and dedication of Australian athletes by
featuring the official logo of the Australian Olympic Team. Stamp
designer Jonathon Chong has made the red double-decker bus the focal
point of the stamp, which first appeared in London after World War II
and has since become synonymous with England's capital. The distinctive
dome of St Paul's Cathedral can be seen on the left of the stamp; a
cathedral which is said to embody the spiritual life and heritage of the
British. In the centre sits the iconic London Eye, a Ferris wheel of
enormous proportions. The London Eye is one of the world's largest
structures of its kind and is visited by over 3.5 million people each
year. Also pictured on the right of the stamp is perhaps London's most
identifiable symbol of all, the Clock Tower colloquially referred to as
Big Ben.
Australia Post is also
bringing out the enormously popular Gold Medal instant stamps during the
Olympic Games 2012. Every Australian athlete and team that wins gold in
London will have their photograph printed on stamps. After their gold
medal-winning performance in the Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay on
Saturday 28 July, Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie and
Melanie Schlanger are the first Australian athletes to feature on the
Australian Gold Medallist Stamps for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Singapore
Post, known for its professionalism in managing the postal services in
the city state of Singapore, has brought out four stamps, showcasing the
official London 2012 Olympic mascot Winlock in the sports poses. This
set of four stamps highlights some of the popular sports that Singapore
athletes will be aiming for success -Table Tennis, Swimming, Sailing and
Badminton.
(PIB Features)
( By John Samuel, Chief Post Master General, Department of Post, J&K Circle, Srinagar, Kashmir.)
Courtesy : http://aipeup3bbsr.blogspot.in