2
Who could have guessed back in the 1840s when United Kingdom’s ‘Penny Black’, the world’s first postage stamp ever featuring Queen Victoria was used, that philately (stamp collecting) would become a serious, and often lucrative, hobby for many?
For decades, due to lack of instant communication and technology, postage stamps provided a country its identity. These stamps would narrate the stories of the country of their origin for those who’d care to look at them.
The image on a postage stamp would showcase and depict the taste, culture, aesthetic sense, overall mindset and important events of the country to which they belonged. These postage stamps had all kinds of images; especially of the founders or prominent leaders of a country, places of significance, flags, current rulers, renowned celebrities and in some cases even the unique things that the country may have to offer to the rest of the world.
The field of sports is like a special bond among the people of the world. It is what brings them on to the same wavelength. Sports also took over a major chunk of the philately world as it is common to find commemorative postage stamps from various countries showcasing major sporting events and players. Sometimes the countries hosting major sporting tournaments boast of their events; some trumpet their success in certain sporting events, while others brag about the local playing arena, grounds or sporting goods and the labour and industry involved in the making and supply of these goods by the issuance and minting of postage stamps.
The first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 1896 was also marked with the issuance of the commemorative set of postage stamps, making Greece the first country ever to introduce sports in the world of philately. A series of 12 postage stamps was launched with images of the games that were part of the 1896 Olympics inclusive of chariot race, discus throw and wrestling, some of the popular sports of that era.
One important reason to come up with the postage stamps for the first Olympics was to cover the Olympic Games’ expenses. The tradition, however, has continued ever since. It is considered a norm these days that every stamp sold will benefit the Olympic Games and the Olympic team of the country where the stamps are sold.
From the collector’s point of view, since the stamps of different sporting event are available in the market for a very limited time only, it makes them even more precious. The collectors are thus willing to pay extraordinary sums so that these unique, time-bound stamps could add to the prestige and worth of their collections.
Generally, those countries that give health and sports priority in the economy or those actually promoting sporting activities or winning sporting laurels regardless of their economy, or even those who may endorse an aesthetic sense in the art, postage, stamp industry and the overall culture of the country are likely to promote games, sports and players through their postage stamps more often and with a high sense of pride and dignity than others.
There are postage stamps from different countries specifically related to sports and games. The images depict celebrations, different events, praises and promotion of players and teams or even tournaments that the countries may have hosted in a specific year. The first day covers are very important for stamp collectors as they can usually be purchased on the first day of their issuance. These stamps are printed on custom-made envelopes, mostly with a first day cover post mark signifying their unique added importance.
Pakistan has produced a number of postage stamps on sports. Sadly, being a country that does not nurture its talent in sports — except for a few specific ones — besides it diminishing participation in international events and lack of any international events on local soil due to terrorism fears, there is little existence of Pakistani sports on our postage stamps. n
Twitter: @Ali_Shahid82
