UN to issue special stamps commemorating International Yoga Day on 21 June

United Nations: The United Nations will issue special stamps commemorating the International Yoga Day on 21 June this year. “Releasing soon. @unstamps Special Event sheet to commemorate International Day of Yoga,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.

Releasing soon.@unstamps Special Event sheet to commemorate International Day of Yoga.

Contact unpanyinquiries@un.org to book a copy. pic.twitter.com/jXgNJKu53d

— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) April 18, 2017

The UN postal agency, UN Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue the new special event sheet to commemorate Yoga Day that has been marked annually since 2015. The special sheet consists of stamps with images of the sacred Indian sound “Om” and various yogic postures. The first International Yoga Day was commemorated at the UN in 2015 with aplomb, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj leading the celebrations along with then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Ban and his wife had joined hundreds of students and yoga practitioners to perform asanas and mediate under the guidance of Shankar during the yoga day celebrations. In December 2014, the UN General Assembly had adopted a resolution with a record number of 177 co-sponsoring member states to commemorate the International Day of Yoga every year on 21 June. United Nations stamps are issued simultaneously at UN offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna. Each issue carries a related design theme, with different denominations for each office. Usually six new commemorative issues are released each year and remain on sale for 12 months only. UN stamps have illustrated the aims and achievements of the United Nations and its family of organisations, the UNPA website said.