With parliamentarians representing the thousand million people in the British Commonwealth meeting to promote democracy at Westminster Hall in London, the single stamp issued to mark the event was wonderfully symbolic and elegant.
Central to the design is a ballot-paper X, rendered in a particularly clever way that suggests the integration of representatives from many different countries, with many strands of opinion.
The patronage of the Queen is acknowledged through the use of regal silver, and the activity of the conference through vibrant red and blue.
Royal Mail will release a set of six stamps and a special four-stamp miniature sheet on April 21 to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s oldest reigning monarch.
The stamps from counter sheets, which come in se-tenant strips of three, comprise three black and white images focusing on her family life, and three colour images honouring her official work on behalf the country over the decades.
Designed by Kate Stephens, the set was printed in litho by International Security Printers.
Royal Mail will issue a set of 10 1st class stamps on April 5 to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, the most published and most performed dramatist in history.
The designs pay tribute to the genius of ‘the immortal bard’ by reproducing famous quotes from eight of his plays and two of his poems, in a variety of typefaces and styles.
Designed by The Chase, the stamps are printed in litho by International Security Printers, in se-tenant strips of five.
Britain’s very memorable first Christmas stamps were the result of a ground-breaking design competition limited to children under 16.
Six-year-old James Berry of Beckenham painted a jolly snowman in a blizzard, and his 1s 6d stamp, with the Queen’s head die-stamped in gold foil, remains one of the most recognisable ever.
When we first saw the stamps, many of us were appalled.
The four values in the Weather set are designed to be viewed as a group, completing the circular face of a barometer, and this is best seen in the format of the miniature sheet, which is itself circular.
The set is a veritable riot of colour and amusement, with many intriguing design elements which repay closer study, such as cats and dogs falling from the sky in the 19p.
But most striking of all is the 27p value, hinting at fair weather by way of a smiley-faced sun, with the value denominator doubling as a pressure gauge.
The 2002 Europa theme of the circus must have given designers all over the continent great fun, and was certainly a spectacular series to collect.
Britain’s predominantly greenish set of five stamps concentrated on stereotypical elements of the big top, and our favourite is the Trick Tricyclists design, with its three identical and rather po-faced monocyclists.
One curiosity, immediately beneath the Queen’s head, is the value ‘E’ (for the European letter rate) represented as ‘€’.
To mark the 150th anniversaries of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Chartered Institute of Building, a set of four very elegant stamps took town planning as a theme, each showing a view of a city and a related blueprint.
One particularly attractive and effective aspect of all the designs is the three-dimensional effect of the scroll which rolls back to reveal the reality of the buildings detailed in on the plans.
The 28p stamp shows the Bristol Exhibition Centre in Bush House, built in what had been part of the city’s thriving port area.
One of the most stunning Christmas sets was based on illuminated letters from the Acts of Mary & Joseph, a medieval Italian manuscript housed in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.
The 24p value shows the Virgin Mary looking at the baby Jesus, who has a startlingly adult face, lying in a stall in the manager with a humble beast of the field looking on through the open window.
The golden and red tones of the stamp, and the oak leaf border of the letter ‘M’ (for Maria), make this an appropriately rich and beautiful philatelic essay.
Many modern British stamps have been criticised for being essentially a photograph with the Queen’s head and inscription added, and that’s just what this one is.
But what a stunner!
A single specimen of autumn crocus is lit classically against a black background, highlighting the stem and flower’s varying hues of light green, purple, puce and white.
The colours combine with the angle of the petals to the lens, suggesting a raised hand, to make this a breathtaking composition.
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