Issued by India

Issued on Feb 7, 2007

Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to release a set of four scented commemorative postage stamps on ‘Fragrance of Roses’.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Suresh Kumar
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 500, 1500, 1500 & 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.8 Million each

Miniature sheets : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• “A rose is a rose is a rose” – Gertrude Stein
• Some words instantaneously suggest beauty because they are associated with things that afford pleasure and delight. The word ‘rose’ is one of them. When one sees a beautiful rose, the first instinct is to smell it as roses are known for their perfume.
• The rose is a flowering shrub of the genus “Rosa” estimated to be more than 30 million years old and the flower has figured in countless myths and legends and in poetry and music throughout the world.
• Roses are distributed in the north temperate, and, the sub-tropical parts of both the hemispheres and there are more than a hundred species of wild roses. As far as the garden roses of the world are concerned, however, only eight species, namely Rosa chinensis, Rosa damascena, Rosa foetida, Rosa gallica, Rosa gigantea, Rosa moschata, Rosa multiflora and Rosa wichuraiana have played an important role. Cultivated roses can also be grouped under two categories – those in cultivation before 1800 A.D. and those after.
• The period after 1800 A.D. was notable because of the influence of perpetually flowering types derived from Rosa chinensis and Rosa gigantean from the Far East. These crossed with new introductions, gave rise to the important groups of the Noisettes and the Bourbons. Further complex crossings also gave rise to the great groups of the Tea Roses and the Hybrid Perpetuals. While the tea roses are prized for their continuous flowering, the Hybrid Perpetuals include varieties of magnificent size and rich perfume.
• In modern times, the rose has attained a wealth of form ranging from the simple, five-petalled flower to the breathtakingly beautiful exhibition type with a spectrum of colours, from miniature forms only a few centimeters high to tall shrubs and rampant climbers and ramblers that can clothe vast stretches of walls or clamber up tall trees.
• In India several rose species are found growing wild, mostly in the Himalayan ranges. The cultivation of roses, however, appears to have been taken up much later than elsewhere. It is treasured as a garden flower and as an ingredient of beautiful floral arrangement, not to mention its value in buttonholes, corsages and the like. The first Prime Minister of India the late Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru, a much-loved person, always wore a red rose in his buttonhole. Today in India, the rose is also largely valued for purposes of worship and for making garlands, and no function in this country appears to be complete without roses.
• Roses have been symbols of love and beauty since ancient times. Different coloured roses have their own symbolic meaning. The red rose is a symbol of love, the pink rose a symbol of grace, the white rose a symbol of innocence, purity and friendship, and the yellow rose a symbol of dying love or platonic love.
• India Post has now brought together fragrance and beauty to create a set of four stamps on ‘Fragrance of Roses‘. The stamps showcase the spectacular variety, beauty and fragrance of roses found in our country, by depicting four Indian varieties.
• Bhim : 
  • This hybrid tea rose is very famous in India. The camellia-like flatness of its form is unusual and its mid-red colour is very attractive. A healthy bush, very free with its flowers, it has dark semi-glossy foliage. The fully open blooms are striking and stands up to cold nights.
• Delhi Princess :
  • A popular Indian-bred variety this rose has cerise-red buds which open to sparkling pink flowers in clusters. Growing in great profusion, the clusters may be small in cool weather, but the individual flowers are 10 cm. across. In warm weather large trusses are formed. It is exceptionally vigorous and free-flowering in all weathers.
• Jawahar : 
  • Free-flowering and good for bedding and exhibition, the velvety, scented ‘Jawahar’ is a creation of the Indian Department of Crops and Agriculture. Growing usually in clusters of three to six, the flowers are perfect creamy white. The vigorous, bushy plant is notable for strange brown prickles and light green flossy foliage.
• Neelam :
  • The Indian Agricultural Research Institute has for some years now been breeding roses especially for Indian conditions, and the gardens of the Indian Rose Society in Delhi display some splendid roses as a result including the ‘Neelam’. It is a large, shapely bloom in silvery pink, with a heady perfume and dark green, glossy foliage.
• Text : Based on ‘The Rose in India‘ by Dr. B.P. Pal, and ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roses‘ by Mr. Stirling Macoboy.

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Issued by Australia

Issued on Feb 3, 1994

Design : The stamps feature superb images of beautiful blooms. Photographed by Lariane Fonseca of Geelong, Victoria. A book of her flower photographs, If Passion were a Flower …. was published in 1992.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 45 cents each

About : 

• Thinking of You stamps were introduced in 1990 in response to many requests from members of the public for stamps that would be suitable for special occasions, such as birthdays and weddings. Introduced in 1994 was a special stamp for St. Valentine’s Day, featuring a beautiful red rose, traditional symbol of romantic love.
• St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a festival of romance and affection in many countries around the world. Its origins are obscure but some authorities believe they lie in the ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. During the ceremony, which was held on 15 February to ensure protection from wolves, young men struck people with strips of animal hide. This was also thought to make young women more fertile. Another part of the ceremony, in honour of the goddess Juno, involved a lottery for the selection of mates. Boys and girls who were matched were considered partners for the coming year.
• Other stories connect St. Valentine’s Day to priests of the Roman era.
• One priest secretly married young couples against an edict of Emperor Claudius II banning weddings. Claudius believed unmarried men made better soldiers. Another was an early Christian, gaoled by the Romans for refusing their gods. His followers missed him and managed to smuggle loving notes into his cell.
• The ancient English belief, cited by both Chaucer and Shakespeare, that birds choose their mates on 14 February, is yet another strain in romantic notations connected with this time of the year.
• St. Valentine‘s Day customs over time have shown elements in common with all these stories. The practice of sending loving messages is known to date back at least to the fifteenth century. The Duke of Orleans, for instance, captured at the Battle of Agincourt, sent his wife a rhymed love letter from his cell in the Tower of London in 1415.
• Those who could not write sent tokens to the object of their affection. Eighteenth and nineteenth century shops sold handbooks for the less poetically inspired, containing romantic verses people could copy. Commercial valentines date from the nineteenth century.
• Ladies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, expected gifts rather than verse. Gloves were popular as a particularly expressive and elegant show of affection. In the early nineteenth century, on the other hand, floriography (flower language) became very popular. Bouquets of flowers, all with their particular meanings, became the vogue.
• Many St. Valentine‘s Day customs involved ways single women might learn who their future husbands would be or involved matching members of the opposite sex to be sweethearts or special friends for the coming year. It was customary at one time for a youth to wear the name of his valentine on his sleeve.

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Issued by Nicaragua

Issued on Jan 15, 1986

Issued for : Wild roses [Rosas Silvestres]

Picture : 1cor – Spinosissima, 1cor – Canina, 3cor – Eglanteria, 5cor – Rubrifolia, 9cor – Foetida and 100cor – Rugosa

Colour : Multicoloured

Type : Stamps, Mint condition

Denomination : 1, 1, 3, 5, 9 & 100 Córdoba [5, 9 & 100cor stamps are Air Mail]

Perforation : 12½ x 12½

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 23, 1984

Issued for : The Indian Posts & Telegraphs is proud to celebrate the beauty of rose, and is releasing these two special postage stamps as a tribute to the rose breeders of our country and all lovers of roses around the world.

Description of Design : The stamp has been designed by India Security Press, Nasik based on photographs provided by the Rose Society of India. The first day cover, features the rose Raktangadha. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 150 & 200 Paise

About : 

• This beauteous flower, Rose, has a universal appeal. Poets, craftsmen and painters have found joy and inspiration in the range of colours, form, substance and fragrance this exquisite flower offers. While the ancestry of rose can be traced to earliest fossil remains, its imposing advent is unmistakably with the arrival of the Hybrid Tea, celebrated for its classic form and range of colours. Man has taken over from Nature and the new creations of hybridisers continue to be a source of marvel and delight.
• History of roses in India dates back to 334-323 BC when it is reported that Alexander the Great in his epic drive to the borders of India sent one of the newly discovered rose plants back to his mentor Aristotle and to ancient Greece. Later during the Moghul period too, the legendary gardens at Samarkhand and at the famous monument of Taj Mahal, roses were present. It is to India that the world owes the discovery of otto or ‘attar‘ of roses. Empress Nur Jahan once noticed an oily film floating on the surface of her favourite rose water bath. This substance was separated and distilled and rose oil or attar was discovered.
• While, roses have been popular in India through legend and poetry, in recent times roses of Indian origin introduced by hybridisers in India have attracted attention world-wide. Rose breeding started early in the first half of the century and one of the earliest breeders was Bhattacharji (BS) the well-known nurseryman of Deogarh. Scientific rose breeding on modern lines started during the nineteen sixties at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) New Delhi.
• There are three popular varieties of modern roses viz. (i) Hybrid Teas (HT for short), which produce large flowers on single long stems, (ii) Floribundas which produce clusters of medium sized flowers and (iii) Miniatures, which are small and exact replicas of HTs.
• In India there are today, over three hundred varieties developed locally, prominent amongst these are ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy‘ (A.M. Bhattacharji, 1959) apricot coloured, ‘Sugandha’, again a richly fragrant variety from S.M. Bhattacharji (1964), the pristine pure white ‘Dr Homi Bhabha‘ (Pal, 1968), a lovely red and silver ‘Srinivasa‘ (Kasturirangan 1969), the ‘Banjaran‘, a brilliant red and gold (Pal, 1969) and many bewitching ones – ‘Bhim‘, ‘Jawahar‘, ‘Mrinalini‘, ‘Mohini‘ from the IARI.
• The varieties selected for the present issue of stamps i.e. ‘MRINALINI’ and ‘SUGANDHA’ are two of the finest examples of roses developed in India.
• ‘MRINALINI‘ (IARI 1974): A hybrid seedling from the cross of ‘Pink Parfait’ and ‘Christian Dior’ (HT). Phlox pink, long pointed buds open to very large (10 cm diameter across), well formed blooms on long stem. The flowers are long lasting and borne on vigorous growing bushes (plant height 85 cms) producing about 60 blooms in a season from December to April.
• ‘SUGANDHA‘ (Bhattacharji 1964): long pointed buds, ranging from pure red to scarlet, opening into large loose flowers on medium tall, upright growing bush. The flowers are gloriously scented and tend to droop. However, flowers on strong shoots attain exhibition quality.
• Text courtesy
  Friends of the Roses Bombay and Rose Society of India – New Delhi.

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Issued by Australia

Issued on May 19, 1982

Designer : Betty Conabere [Mrs. Elizabeth Conabere was a botanical illustrator who lived and worked in an elderly house surrounded by a garden, in the Victorian country town of Mansfield. In 1969, on completing drawings of alpine plants for the National Herbarium in Melbourne, she commenced work on the two-volume limited edition book ‘Wildflowers of south eastern Australia‘ published in 1974. The original paintings for this work were purchased by the Victorian Ministry for the Arts, and presented to the La Trobe Library. Mrs. Conabere had also worked on Illustrations for the Victorian Lands Department depleting plants which have been declared noxious weeds. Her 1982 stamp commissions for Australia Post included both ‘Roses in Australia’ and ‘Eucalypts‘.]

Typographer : Bruce Weatherhead, Melbourne

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 27c, 40c, 65c and 75c

Stamp size : 26 mm x 37.5 mm

Perforation : 13 x 13¼

Paper :
27c – litho–chromo stamp paper incorporating luminescence,
others – APWH stamp paper

Sheet content : 100 (issued)

Printing process : photolithography on a four–colour Roland Rekord press

Printer : Leigh–Mardon Pty Limited, Melbourne

About : 

• Marjorie Atherton, Imp, Minnie Watson and Satellite, the four rose varieties depicted on the special stamp issue introduced on 19 May 1982, were selected in consultation with the National Rose Society of Australia. Each of the four varieties is distinctive in the colour, form and fragrance of its flowers; and all four are outstanding examples of hybrid roses developed in Australia.
  
• Hybridisation, the cross-breeding of different varieties to produce a new specimen, is the method used to produce most modem rose varieties. Such cultivation has enabled the promotion of such desirable qualities as hardiness, the ability to resist disease, variety of colour and continuous flowering. A new variety may take years to perfect; usually followed by the presentation of the new rose at a public flower show. Rose shows and festivals are held in the spring and summer months in all the Australian States, organised by the State rose societies. Annual rose festivals are held at Benalla, Victoria and Glen Innes, New South Wales.
  
• Roses are grown in three forms : bush, standard and climbing (including pillar roses and ramblers). While some varieties do equally well as bush or as standard roses, others are best suited to one particular form. Climbers may be naturally climbing in habit, or may be ‘sports’, the name given to climbers which derive originally from bush forms. Miniature roses are a category of increasing popularity, available as bushes and standards, and in some cases as climbers. The four roses depicted on the stamps may be grown in either bush or standard form, but are not available as climbing roses.
  
• The blooming habit of roses has been classified as ‘cluster flowering’ and ‘large flowering’. Cluster flowering roses were formerly known as floribundas. Imp is a cluster flowering rose, and Marjorie Atherton, Minnie Watson and Satellite are large flowering varieties.
  
• One of the most popular roses ever cultivated is known as Peace, a slightly fragrant variety with large golden yellow petals flushed with pink. Raised by the Meilland family during the Second World War and originally named Madame A. Meilland, Peace was smuggled out of occupied France to the USA, and introduced to the public in 1945. Both Marjorie Atherton and Imp include the Peace rose in their pedigrees.
• The long stemmed Marjorie Atherton rose is a fragrant, disease resistant plant with dense foliage. The double blooms are deep, maize yellow. Marjorie Atherton was raised in 1978 by Mr. R. J. Bell of Harkaway, Victoria, by crossing Mount Shasta with Peace. Mount Shasta is a tall growing, white, fragrant variety with a slight tint of pink; and Peace is yellow, with rose pink-edged petals. Marjorie Atherton is the name of Mr. Bell’s sister.

• Imp is an unusual rose, with long-lasting clusters of flat, semi-double blooms. Each of the imbricated, or overlapping, white petals is heavily margined with a band of deep red. This hardy plant with dark green foliage was developed in 1971 by Mr. George Dawson, of Bunyip, Victoria. Peace occurs several generations back in Imp’s pedigree; Peace crossed with Independence produced Grand Gala; Grand Gala crossed with Ma Perkins produced Daily Sketch. Mr. Dawson crossed Daily Sketch, a bushy plant with pink and silver clusters of large double blooms, with Impeccable, a very fragrant variety with deep velvety red double flowers. The name Imp derives from the first three letters of Impeccable.

• The semi-double blooms of Minnie Watson are light salmon pink with a slight fragrance. A compact bush is formed with glossy foliage, and the buds are an attractive globular shape. Mr. R. Watson of Warrane, Tasmania, raised Minnie Watson in 1965 by self-pollination of Dickson’s flame. Seedlings have been raised from self-pollinated seed and from chance pollination by insects, but the deliberate crossing of a variety with itself is most unusual. Dickson’s flame is a slightly fragrant rose with scarlet clusters. The Minnie Watson rose was named after Mr. R. Watson‘s mother.

• Satellite is an early flowering rose with very fragrant double blooms of a deep crimson colour. The vigorous upright and compact plant has attractive glossy foliage. Satellite was cultivated in 1958 by Mr. J. L. Priestly of Melbourne, by crossing Editor Mcfarland with William Harvey. Editor Mcfarland is a glowing pink double rose with very fragrant blooms; and William Harvey is scarlet and strongly fragrant. The name Satellite was chosen by Mr. Priestly to reflect topical interest in the Russian ‘Sputnik‘ at the time that the rose was raised.
  

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Issued by Bhutan

Issued on Jan 30, 1973

Colour : Multicoloured

Type : Stamps, Mint Condition

Subject : Roses

About : 

• a set of 6 postage stamps consists of 6 different face values [denomination] in commemoration of 6 different types of Rose. The last two denominations i.e. 6nu & 7nu are Air Mail stamps.
  
• This series of stamps are the world’s first scented stamp issued by the Government of Bhutan. Each stamp have an authentic scent of the depicting variety of rose.
• 15ch : Wendy Cussons
• 25ch : Iceberg
• 30ch : Marchioness of Urquijo
• 3nu : Pink Parfait
• 6nu : Roslyn
• 7nu : Blue moon

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Issued by India

Issued on Thursday, May 27, 1965

Issued for : The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department issued a special commemorative stamp on the 27^th May 1965, on which day falls the first death anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Carmine and Monastral Blue 

Denomination : 0.15

Overall Size : 3.91 X 2.90 cms.

Printing Size : 3.63 X 2.62 cms.

Perforation : 13

Watermark : All over multiple ‘Lion Capital of Asoka’

Number Printed : 4 million

Set : 35 stamps per issue sheet

Printing Process : Photogravure

Processed and Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• Alive, his was a world presence; no more, he ‘lives on, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men’s lives’.
• Gandhiji taught a people in bondage to hold their heads high; Nehru led them by the arm to move with dignity from one era into another; and, as a people, Indians followed him with pride and faith; but Jawaharlal, the visionary, kept reminding himself, ‘I have miles to go before I sleep‘.
• Nehru‘s influence on the minds of men has always been profound and permanent. His thoughts invariably rose beyond the realm of dogma and his is a language we understand. We read and re-read the story of his life and struggle in his own words. His powerful voice for peace and friendship still rings in our ears. We treasure his loyalty and affection, his courage and wisdom, his candour and acumen, his deep sense of history and, above all, his vision and ideal of a new society. He endures as an example of love for freedom and co-operation. The values he lived and worked for remain part of the heritage of man.
• The favourite child of the Indian people, he is a part of all mankind. He lives on in the hearts of the millions he chose to serve. The vivid impression of his rich personality will be conveyed undimmed from generation to generation; and the flame of his noble spirit, one with the soul of India, shall ever burn brightly, steadily and gently.

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Nov 4, 1961

Design : The Co-operative Day Commemoratives show a bouquet of ten roses as their motif. This is to represent the basic principle of the Co-operative Movement that at least ten persons must get together to form a co-operative society. The illustration also emphasizes mutuality of efforts and identity of individuals and gives practical demonstration of the fact that ‘united effort’ brings forth the best results. The motto of the Co-operatives EACH FOR ALL AND ALL FOR EACH is also shown therein.

Designed by : These Commemoratives have been designed by a private artist under the guidance of the Director General, Pakistan Posts and Telegraphs.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Denomination : 13 & 90 Paisa

Colour :
13-Paisa : Green (Main) and Common–red (Vignette)
90-Paisa : Blue (Main) and Common–red (Vignette)

Size of Stamps : 33.9 mms x 28.6 mms.

Size of Print : 31.4 mms x 25.8 mms.

Perforation : 13 x 13(c)

Quantity printed :
13-Paisa : 8,00,000
90-Paisa : 5,00,000

Number of stamps in each sheet : 80 (Eighty)

Process of Printing : Two–colour recess

Printers : Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Ltd., Karachi

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Issued by Hungary

Issued on May 1, 1959

Issued for : Labor Day, May 1, 1959

Picture : Roses.

Colour : 60 f – Lilac, Deep Carmine & Green & 1 Ft – Light Brown, Dull Red & Green.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Watermark : No

Denomination : 60 Filler & 1 Forint

Perforation : 11

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