Poland has issued an impressive portfolio of stamps to celebrate the 2008 Olympics.

The colourful stamps present 4 out of the 28 olympic disciplines: swimming, volleyball, the pole vault and fencing - particular sports that Poland is most hopeful to win medals in. The stamps are placed together in a block on the background of a traditional Chinese wood carving and the word “Beijing” written in its original form.

The design of the First Day Cover includes the same illustration, added with a photograph of the new Beijing stadium called the “Bird’s Nest”. An occasional date stamp will be used, as a matter of exception, in the 88 Warsaw Post Office (at 10 Melomanów Str.). Eight is considered a lucky number in China. It is no coincidence that the games start on 8 August 2008, at 8.08 pm local time. Number “8″ was also specially emphasised in the design of the Polish Post stamps. The Polish Post said they hoped it would bring good luck to Polish athletes, too.

The Polish Post has been issuing postage stamps related to the olympic games since 1956. It was then that a series of 6 postage stamps, commemorating the 16th Olympic Games held in Melbourne, was issued. An additional stamp, depicting the record 6.35 metre long jump by Elzbieta Krzesinska and the gold medal awarded for that result, was issued immediately after the Melbourne games. During the next couple of months, the Olympic Centre of the Zoliborz district in Warsaw will house an exhibition of all the olympic stamp issues.

Tags: Polish Olympic Stamps