2950. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 No Stamps For The 2026 Commonwealth Games.

 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland.

23 July - 2 August 2026 - No stamps.

 It appears that the 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow are to be the first held in the United Kingdom not to be commemorated by Royal Mail with the issue of postage stamps though recently Royal Mail has issued a large number of thematic issues - military aircraft, moths, waterfalls, ducks, castles ete etc without any good reason to do so apart from the possibility that such subjects are deemed to be popular with the public and depicting them might just result in people who do not collect stamps buying them and consequently contribute to RM profits and equally they might just start collecting stamps (faint chance).

  The problem for these Commonwealth Games - the 23rd - is that nobody really wanted to host them because of the expense of it all, as well as nobody really caring about them. The 2026 Games were to have been held in Birmingham but the city brought forward its hosting of the  Games to 2022 at a rather late stage because Durban in South Africa which had been chosen to host the Games withdrew from doing so in March 2017. Birmingham was bankrupted - twice - a year or so after the 2022 Games - though, at the time, the Games were generally enjoyed by the city’s residents. The city’s main inheritance from the Games were bankruptcy, a new sports stadium, an Athletes Village which was not ready in time to host the athletes and still remains largely uninhabited and ‘Ozzy the Bull’, a vast machine in the form of a bull now housed at the city’s New Street station, admired by arrivals at the station and loved by the citizens.

Ozzy the Birmingham Bull

  Birmingham’s hosting of the Games left a void for the hosting of the 2026 Games and this opportunity was generally greeted by the cities of The Commonwealth with a wall of indifference. Eventually the Australian state of Victoria stepped forward into the breech and became the host apparent for 2026 but concerns about the costs led it to withdraw in July 2023, just 15 months after it was awarded the Games. Subsequently, the former Australian host city of Gold Coast in Queensland took on the challenge and then thought better of it and withdrew its offer and eventually the former host of the Games, Glasgow, took on the role of host once more with the Scottish government agreeing to host the Games on 17 September 2024 with financial backing from Commonwealth Games Australia, clearly not leaving much time for preparations for the Games.

  As well as being ignored by Royal Mail, these are the first Games not to be shown free-to-view television in the United Kingdom. Perhaps they will be called the Orphan Games. 

  Regardless, we hope the Glasgow Games are successful. Up to 74 countries and territories are expected to participate with Togo and Gabon being present for the first time.

  As curmudgeonly old Royal Mail will not be releasing postage stamps to commemorate the Games, here’s a set of 4 designs and a miniature sheet containing all 4 designs to make up for this philatelic shunning of the Games. They were created by Gemini AI, the whole process taking about 7 minutes. 

  The six previous Commonwealth Games held in the United Kingdom were all commemorated by the issue of postage stamps - be it the Post Office or Royal Mail -

The 6th British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff (3 stamps),

the 9th British Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh (3 stamps),

the 13th Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh (3 stamps),

the 17th Commonwealth Games, Manchester (4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet) 

the 20th Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (6 stamps) and 

the 22nd Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham (8 stamps).

Finally, here’s some of the teams parading in to the stadium at the 2022 Games. Note that Ozzy The Bull is keeping a close eye on the proceedings -

2240. 🇮🇳 India Commemorates Indian National Army Fighter.

New Issues.

🇮🇳 India Post - 

26 January 2023 - Commemoration of Major Durga Mall (soldier in Indian National Army during Second World War) - 1 stamp. Rating:- ***.

🇱🇹 Stamperija (notorious Lithuania-based manufacturer and purveyor of paraphilatelic items under contract from various postal services to produce saleable items in their name. There is little or no evidence that such products are on sale in the ordinary post offices of contracted countries for use on ordinary mail).

🇸🇱 Products inscribed ‘Sierra Leone’ -

Stated ‘date of issue’ - 9 October 2022 - Miscellaneous subjects featured on a total of 42 miniature sheets. I do not normally note that these products have been released on to the market for purchase by uninformed or gullible buyers but here mention two ‘issues’ related to the British family since the products are worth noting as representing the end of an era and the start of another. It’s interesting to know about the products but purchase is not recommended. Rating:- 0.

Commemoration of the late Queen Elizabeth II - 3 miniature sheets 

Succession of King Charles III.

  Also put on sale in the same batch of products as the above royalty-themed items were 3 miniature sheets inscribed with the name of Sierra Leone which commemorated the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham (with some events taking place in Coventry, Sandwell, Leamington Spa [Warwickshire] and London). 

  The supreme crassness of the products Stamperija puts on sale is highlighted by the miniature sheet which is described as showing ‘Leamington Lift Bridge’ which is in fact located in Edinburgh in Scotland and not Royal Leamington Spa, several hundred miles away, where the lawn bowls events were held. The triathlon event was held in Sutton Park in Royal Sutton Coldfield, a suburb of Birmingham, but the single stamp contained in the miniature sheet shows a rather obscure alley way which could be just about anywhere. True the part of the miniature sheer showing the Coventry Stadium is correct but the border of the 3 ‘stamp’miniature sheet claims to depict ‘Warwick Castle built by William The Conqueror in 1068’ (it doesn’t - the illustration is of a church and not Warwick Castle). One of the ‘stamps’ depicts an aerial view of New Street Railway Station in Birmingham and another depicts the canal system at Brindley Place. 

  While certain catalogues continue to list this trash and while there are still those who think they are worth spending their money on the stuff, then Stamperija will continue to churn out the rubbish, laughing all the way to the bank.

2118. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Garish Designs Commemorate Commonwealth Games.

 

New issues

  Royal Mail -

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 28 July 2022 - After the ‘Pride’ set of products, for the second consecutive time Royal Mail will release a set of stamps with unpleasantly garish designs, this time to commemorate the Commonwealth Games being hosted in England. The designs feature various sports and make no effort to feature the host city of Birmingham, a large post-industrial conurbation in the English Midlands, or even the Games’ emblem. Although Birmingham is named as hosting the athletics and some of the minor sports, many other sports are taking place elsewhere - the track cycling is to be in London, bowls in Leamington Spa, the swimming in Sandwell and the shooting in, er, India.

  The set of 8 stamps (2 se-tenant pairs of four) was designed by Charis Tsevis who lives and works in Cyprus and lithographed by Cartor and the stamps are perforated 14.5. Perhaps Royal Mail might more appropriately have employed a talented Birmingham-based artist of which there are many. Rating:- **.

  See also Blogs 397, 1007 and 1208.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

Products inscribed Alderney -

24 August 2022 - 175th anniversary of the Alderney breakwater - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Further details awaited. Rating:- ***.