1247. 🇧🇩 Bangladesh Flags Muddle.

  🇧🇩 Two new issues are being offered for sale currently on an internet auction site which have been released by Bangladesh Post. The first is a single stamp which commemorates Bangladesh's graduation from the status of being a Least Developed Country to that of a Developed Country. I like the clever design which features a pattern of different coloured cogwheels in the shape of the country itself. Clearly, also, this stamp celebrates an important event in the history of Bangladesh. Rating:- *****.

  The second issue being offered for sale is very interesting and once more underlines a philatelic designer's golden rule - DON'T depict flags on your stamps - they're a minefield. The miniature sheet commemorates the 30th anniversary of the involvement of Bangladeshi forces in United Nations Peacekeeping operations. The sheet depicts Sheikh Mujibur Rahman speaking at The United Nations and flags of the territories in which UN forces have carried out their peacekeeping missions.

  The featured flags are Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Croatia, Cyprus, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Timor Leste, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Côte D'Ivoire, Kenya, Kosovo (bizarrely the map depicted on the flag seems to be that of Australia and not of Kosovo!), Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone (with a central golden emblem which the flag of Sierra Leone has never included), Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan (a flag which looks like the one flown by the country since 1970 but with the colours in the wrong order - white, green, black instead of the correct red, white, black), Syria, Uganda, United States Of America (when did the United Nations ever send a peacekeeping mission to The USA? - perhaps it's prophetic or just plain crass or mischievous), Western Sahara and the now extinct Yugoslavia. Phew! There's enough errors in this sheet to furnish the material for a whole evening's pub quiz.

  Was the designer taking the mickey?

  🇨🇦 Canada Post has announced 3 new stamp issues for release in the coming weeks. I like them all:-

  29 June 2018 - Astronomy - 2 self-adhesive stamps from booklets of 10 (5 x2) and 1 gummed miniature sheet. Designed by Parcel Design from illustrations by Irene Laschi. Rating:- *****.

  13 July 2018 - Sharks - 5 self-adhesive stamps from booklets of 10 (2 x 5) and 1 gummed miniature sheet. Designed by Andrew Perro from illustrations by Julius Csotonyi. Rating:- *****.

  26 July 2018 - 'Weather wonders' - 5 self-adhesive stamps sold in booklets of 10 (2 x 5) and 1 gummed miniature sheet. Designed by Entro Communications. Rating:- *****.

  🇬🇬 Guernsey Stamps tweeted on 22 June 2018 that on that day it's GG03 kiosk had dispensed Post and Go stamps (flowers) to welcome the passengers from the cruise ships Oriana and the Zuiderdam which were in port.

  🇬🇧 The Postal Museum in London has announced that its use of 50th anniversary of Machin Head Post and Go stamps in kiosk A001will cease on 1 July 2018. The design will be replaced by the classic Machin Head design from 2 July 2018 and this will be the first time that the design has received the additional inscription 'The Postal Museum'.

  In Blog 1246 I did not mention that the Hampton Court Palace issue from Royal Mail will also include a £4.02 retail booklet of 6 x 1st Class domestic rate stamps - there being 2 different stamps taken from the miniature sheet (Great Hall and King's Great Bedchamber designs) and 4 x Machin Head stamps.

1246. 🇲🇿 Another Real Stamp From Mozambique, Issued 2016.

  🇲🇿 Another 'real' stamp from Correios Moçambique has been on sale recently on an internet auction site. This appears to date from 2016 judging by the inscription on the stamp and is on the subject of 'children's villages'. Despite the numerous products which continue to ooze out of Stamperija, it is still possible, from time to time, to discover real modern stamps being released by the Mozambique postal service. Rating:- *****.

  🇬🇧 Royal Mail will issue 6 stamps (as 2 se-tenant strips of 3) and 1 miniature sheet on 31 July 2018 on the subject of Hampton Court Palace and illustrations of these items can be now seen on the internet. This location has been featured on a previous British stamp and the set backs up the impression that those who choose Royal Mail's new issue programme seem to think that the only parts of The United Kingdom worth depicting and celebrating on Royal Mail stamps are those in London and its immediate vicinity. In the past few years we've had St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and so on and so on. It's time for Royal Mail to realise that London is not the only place worth depicting on 'British' stamps and actually it's getting somewhat dull. Two or three of the designs could easily feature scenes to be seen in scores of stately homes across the country - gardens, large ponds and so on.

  The stamps feature the format of previous London-centric issues - long designs with vertical more regular-shaped stamps in the miniature sheet. Rating:- *.

  🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia will issue a set of 4 stamps on 28 June 2018 on the subject of 'Unique structures' and featuring bridges of Malaysia. The feature bridges are located in Kuching the capital of Sarawak, Sabah, Perak and Putrajaya in the Federal Territory. This is an interesting and modestly priced set. Rating:- ****.

1245. A Year Of Royal Stamp Issues - Are They At All Interesting Now?

  Many stamp collectors have long been exhausted by the constant procession of royal omnibus Issues and this year - 2018 - we are particularly beset by them. We've had the Royal Wedding, the 65th anniversary of the Coronation, the Birth of Prince Louis Of Cambridge and still to come is the 70th Birthday of The Prince Of Wales, which may turn out to be the most interesting of them all.

  Poor old Prince Charles has not been the favourite of those who consider themselves clever and smart for a long time and even though he is the next king of numerous Commonwealth realms and territories and has already been chosen to be the next Head of The Commonwealth, he has not featured on all that many stamps especially in recent times though a recent issue from Malaysia depicted excellent photographs of him and his wife, The Duchess Of Cornwall (depicted below) to commemorate their visit to Malaysia.

  His main philatelic claim to fame to date is his appearance on the numerous stamps released by almost the entire Commonwealth to commemorate his wedding when he married Diana Spencer but after their divorce and her subsequent death, his second marriage, to Camilla Parker Bowles, received hardly any philatelic commemoration at all. Some of the few stamps depicting him are mentioned in Blog 489. It seems to me therefore that the stamps which will inevitably appear later this year to commemorate The Prince Of Wales' birthday may be rather interesting given that Prince Charles is an interesting man and more talented than some of his detractors would give him credit for.

  My own collecting of royal omnibus stamps is now very limited. It seems reasonable to collect issues which commemorate significant events in the Queen's life from countries of which she is the Head of State. It seems unnecessary to include stamps in my collection from republics which have chosen not to have her as Head of State - why commemorate her philatelically when you've chosen to remove her from being your monarch? Additionally I might or might not add issues commemorating significant events or anniversaries of other members of the royal family from countries of which they are members of their sovereign's family but I tend not to collect them particularly if they commemorate minor royals or are featured on stamps from territories which release clearly excessive numbers of stamps.

  Undoubtedly my favourite omnibus issue of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II is the wonderful issue from 1972 which commemorated the Silver wedding anniversary of The Queen and The Duke Of Edinburgh and which mainly was made up of sets of 2 stamps only (hardly any miniature sheets) most of which had the same basic design and which contained added motifs to identify the territory issuing the stamps. I think it was still possible to call the collection of many of the stamps 'a Crown Agents omnibus'. In fact the omnibus was made up not just of stamps issued by clients of the Crown Agents but also similar designs were used by non-Crown Agents territories including IGPC clients and Anguilla which used John Lister as its philatelic agents. As well as these other territories including Great Britain, Australia, Jersey, Guernsey and so on also participated in the omnibus but did not use designs in the style of the Crown Agents issue.

  My favourite stamps from the Crown Agents-style omnibus included a number which featured wildlife from the different territories and I especially liked the issue from British Indian Ocean Territory which depicted a flightless rail (which at the time was on the verge of extinction on Aldabra island) and a sacred ibis, the issue from British Antarctic Territory which depicted seals and emperor penguins and the pair from South Georgia which featured an elephant seal and king penguins.

  Twenty nine postal administrations plus the French New Hebrides postal service participated in the 'Crown Agents' omnibus series and examples of each are depicted below:-

Antigua - Floral patterns.

Ascension - Land crab and mako shark.

Bahamas - Mace and galleon.

Bermuda - Admiralty oar and mace.

British Antarctic Territory - Seals and emperor penguins.

British Honduras - Orchids of Belize.

British Indian Ocean Territory - Flightless rail and sacred ibis.

British Solomon Islands - Greetings and message drums.

British Virgin Islands - Sailfish and SS Sir Winston Churchill.

Brunei - Local girl with traditional flower pot and boy with bowl and pipe.

Cayman Islands - Hawksbill turtle and conch shell.

Dominica - Bananas and Sisserou parrot.

Falkland Islands - Romney Marsh sheep and giant sea lions.

Gibraltar - Arms of Gibraltar and narcissus.

Gilbert And Ellice Islands - Floral head dresses.

Grenada - National badge and nutmeg.

HM Commissioner In Anguilla - Schooner and dolphin.

Hong Kong - Phoenix and dragon.

Montserrat - Lime, tomatoes and pawpaw.

New Hebrides - Royal cipher and French emblem. Four stamps (2 British version and 2 French version).

Pitcairn - Bosun birds and longboat.

St Helena - Wire bird and white fairy tern.

St Christopher Nevis And Anguilla - Pelicans.

St Lucia - National arms and St Lucia parrot.

St Vincent - Arrowroot and breadfruit.

Seychelles - Giant tortoise and sailfish.

South Georgia - Elephant seal and King Penguins.

Tristan Da Cunha - Tristan thrushes and a wandering albatross.

Turks And Caicos Islands - Turks Head cactus and a spiny lobster.