The Prime Minister of India released two commemorative postage stamps to mark India’s G20 Presidency last month at the inauguration of Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The design of stamps draw inspiration from India’s G20 logo and theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ rendered in gold colour, representing India’s diversity, inclusiveness and rich cultural heritage. Recently, veteran industrialist, and philanthropist, AM Naik, officially stepped down as the Group Chairman of Larsen & Toubro. Recognising his contributions to both industry and society, India Post unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. P-22, a mountain lion, who died in December 2022, became the face of an international conservation campaign to save Southern California’s threatened pumas.
Now there are talks to represent the wild and beautiful aspect of Los Angeles, where the city government’s representatives have persisted in a more permanent honour: a P-22 postage stamp. The representative, Adam B Schiff suggested the federal committee that P-22 was a “magnificent and wild creature, who reminded us all that we are part of a natural world so much greater than ourselves.”
While the inanimate object may weigh just a tiny fraction of an ounce but it holds a lot of recognition. Stamps not only commemorate the legends but also raises awareness in many ways. For instance, one of the world’s foremost medical research centres in the US, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) zebrafish research has been included in US Postal Service’s with ‘life magnified’ stamps. The NIH researchers created the zebrafish microscopy image as part of their research on lymphatic vessel development in the brain. The NIH zebrafish image merges 350 individual images to reveal a juvenile zebrafish with a fluorescently tagged skull, scales and lymphatic system. “The postage stamp will help spur conversations and appreciation for the importance of basic science research,” said Diana W Bianchi, director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which generated the image.
According to Harnehmat Kaur, co-founder, Daakroom, a letter writing carnival which is aimed at reviving the lost art of letter writing in India, stamps are a collector’s trove offering both artistic beauty and a slice of history, the intricate designs and rich history are like miniature storytellers, capturing pivotal moments and cultural nuances. “For collectors, each stamp adds a unique narrative, making their collection a dynamic mosaic of stories and memories. With scents, textures, braille, stamps are also becoming inclusive and accessible to all! Their allure lies not just in their design but in the stories they silently convey. In our digital age, the tangible charm of stamps stands out, making them a cherished addition to any collection and a testament to timeless passion,” says Kaur, who launched Daakroom in September 2016 to make letter writing relevant in the digital era and has inspired people to put pen to paper and have got more than 7,00,000 letters and postcards written to date, besides conducting philatelic workshops in the past.
Postage stamps often portray world leaders to be remembered for long after they are gone, or events and geographies that convey important messages or hold a badge of honour. Celebrities like Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Hema Malini, Satyajit Ray, Dadasaheb Phalke, Guru Dutt, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, director Bimal Roy, producer Mehboob Khan, Nargis Dutt, Madhubala have been featured on a stamp.
Actor Zeenat Aman, who has garnered over 4 lakh followers on her Instagram account, shared how Norway’s Postal Department issued a special stamp in her honour at a film festival in Oslo in 2016. The actor was gifted a giant replica along with 60 stamps for her personal use. Legendary actor Audrey Hepburn has a rare postal stamp which earned $93,800 at an auction in Berlin in 2009.
Hema Malini was honoured by the Norwegian government who released a special stamp of the ‘Dream Girl’ at the 10th Annual Bollywood Festival, while the Mumbai Postal Region gifted actor Ajay Devgn his own stamp last year.
This year, Paddington Bear, a fictional polite character in children’s literature, is ready to appear on 10 special stamps released by the Royal Mail to mark his 65th anniversary. The first set of six stamps will soon feature images from animator Ivor Wood’s comic strip cartoons of the 1970s. The other four stamps capture moments from the BBC television series that Wood designed and directed from 1976.
Conglomerate ITC with India Post launched a postal stamp to promote awareness on millets this year.
