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WASHINGTON -- Six commemorative stamps will be issued by the United Nations Postal Administration on June 3 at NAPEX 2005, in McLean, Va., completing the set of seven stamps for the “International Year of Sport.” According to United Nations Postal Administration Chief Robert Gray, the newest stamps are in denominations of 37 cents, 70 cents, F.s 1, 00, F.s 1, 30, €0, 55, and € 1, 10. They measure 40mm horizontally x 30mm vertically from perforation to perforation. The perforation is 13.
The images, created by Roland Hirtrer of Switzerland, feature athletes in active play and competition. The 37 and 70 cent issues feature sailing and running, respectively. The F.s. 1, 00 and 1, 30 issues feature cycling, and the € 0, 55 and 1, 10 denominations feature soccer and equestrians. The horizontal sheets of twenty stamps have four marginal inscriptions. Two are located in the top margin and two are in the bottom. The inscription contains the United Nations Emblem, the text, “United Nations” and the year 2005 to the right of the emblem. The lower left margin will contain the copyright symbol with the year 2005.
Gray said the U.N. will issue 255,000 (12,750 sheets) stamps in the 37 cent denomination; 185,000 stamps (9,250 sheets) in the 70 cent denomination; 185,000 stamps (9,250 sheets) each in the F.s 1,00 and F.s 1,30 denominations, and 245,000 stamps (12,250 sheets) each in the € 0,55 and € 1,10 denominations.
The first stamp of the series was issued on Nov. 23, 2004, as a joint project of the United Nations Postal Administration, the Swiss Post, and the International Olympic Committee. It was entitled “Sport 2005.” The United Nations in 2003 proclaimed the year 2005 as the International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE) for the purpose of encouraging governments, sport-related organizations, and athletes to help achieve the Millennium Development goals of the UN. These groups assist in implementing sport for peace programs and advance the importance of sport as a tool to improve health and education, and to bridge cultural and ethnic divides. “On the global level, if used consistently, sport and physical education can have a long-lasting positive impact on development, public health, peace, and the environment,” Gray said.
He explained that Hirter is a noted designer of stamps, having created more than twenty stamps for the Swiss Post. “In 2004, he won the competition for the United Nations stamp design ‘International Year of Sport 2005.’ Following this success, he was asked to create the six stamps that we are issuing this year,” Gray continued. The artist’s intent in this year’s issue is to use graduated repetitions and un-sharpness of movement to create a dynamic sporty presentation of figures for the stamp designs. In 2003, he developed the special stamp “Alinghi” for the Swiss Post.
The issue is the latest in a series of UN postage issues. Since 1951, the UNPA has issued 1,600 stamps from its three offices, New York, Geneva, and Vienna. Cartor Security Printing of France printed this year’s offset stamps.
NAPEX will be held June 3-5, 2005 at the McLean Hilton, Hotel in McLean, Va. For more information about NAPEX, readers can go to www.napex.org.
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Celebrating Theodore Roosevelt
