Longest stamp marks Viceroy Special 25th anniversary

Sri Lanka has issued five stamps including the longest ever stamp to mark 25 years of service of the Viceroy luxury coal powered steam train.

The 123mm long and 30mm wide stamp was issued at the Rambukkana Railway station under the patronage of Post and Telecommunication Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga and Transport Minister Kumara Welgama.

The Viceroy Special is the only coal powered steam locomotive still in operation with two air-conditioned compartments including 64 plush reclining seats and adjustable tables. The train has been utilised as a tourist attraction to offer visitors an enthralling experience of passenger transportation of the yester years, Transport Minister Welgama said.

The Minister said tourists would be keen to travel by Viceroy Special since only a few steam locomotives are in operation in the world.

18th Century composers - stamps from Cyprus

The Cyprus Post has issued a series of three stamps commemorating the most famous composers of the 18th century: Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. He enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms and textures.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 -1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 -1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is considered to have been the most crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.

Canadian Pride - new Definitive Stamps by Canada Post

The sheer number of places where the Canadian flag is found was the creative impetus to this stamp series.

According to Liz Wong, Stamp Design Manager for the series, the challenge was to take a very common but much beloved image like the flag, an image people are familiar with seeing on a stamp, but approach it in a fresh new way and present the flag in ways in which it's actually used. "The Canadian Pride series draws your attention to both the common - and uncommon - places the flag appears."

The five Permanent domestic stamps in this year's issue demonstrate both personal and official appearances of the flag; on a traveller's backpack, a hot air balloon, the Canadarm, and both a Canadian soldier's and a search and rescue expert's uniforms.

The stylized "O" (for "O Canada") not only acts as a symbol of the national anthem, it also serves as a means of focusing attention on the flag and its surroundings.

Liz Wong adds that "by framing the visual with the "O" of "O Canada", this stamp series is totally and unapologetically patriotic."

Violin on new stamp by Austria Post

"Musical instruments" is the euphonic title of a new attractive series of stamps that is now beginning with the first issue, the violin.

In the tradition of European classical music, the violin plays an extremely important and often indeed central role - many famous composers have dedicated a major part of their works to it.

The versatile and very different uses of the violin in music range from classical orchestral and chamber music to traditional folksongs, big band, dance, jazz and rock music.

Turning to the history of the violin, the first documented reference to the instrument dates back to the 16th century - in 1523, according to the historical source, "les trompettes et vyollons de Verceil" (the trumpets and violins of Vercelli) were paid a fee at the court of the Duke of Savoy in Turin. The oldest illustration of a violin, however, is a putto playing a violin in the altar painting in the church of S. Cristoforo in Vercelli. The essentially unchanged shape of the violin has been in use since around 1540 and originates from upper Italy. Famous Italian violin makers include Andrea and Nicola Amato, Gasparo da Salo and above all the world-famous Antonio Stradivari. Mention should also be made of Jakobus Stainer from Absam, whose instruments were regarded as the best until the end of the 18th century, and the Klotz family from the Upper Bavarian town of Mittenwald. The violins made during this period are today referred to as Baroque violins, and since the 1950s have mainly been used for the performance of "ancient music".

Marie Curie stamp from France

The United Nations has proclaimed 2011 the International Year of Chemistry. To commemorate this event the French Post is issuing a stamp dedicated to the famous French chemist Marie Curie.

Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934) was a Polish-born French physicist and chemist famous for her work on radioactivity. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes - in physics and chemistry. She was also the first female professor at the University of Paris.

In 2011 France celebrates the 200th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Marie Curie.