Canada Post is an official supplier of postal services to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. This gives them the right to design, produce, and sell over half a billion philatelic products ranging from postage stamps with 2010 Winter Games themes to collector's packages, post cards, and special cover cancellations.
One of the product series deals with the 2010 Games and 2010 Paralympic emblems and the Vancouver Olympics mascots. The two emblems are featured on domestic rate stamps. Danielle Trottier, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post, claims (Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. XVIII No 1) that “For the first time ever, two different stamps will alternate throughout the same coil.”
The mascot stamps feature various rates for international and domestic use.
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games Emblem – The Inukshuk
The Vancouver 2010 Olympics Emblem is a contemporary version of the inukshuk, an Inuit construction of rocks vaguely reminiscent of a human form that serves as a trail marker. The Vancouver 2010 version is called Ilanaaq, an Inuktituk word for friend, which VANOC (the games organizers) chose as a symbol of the Vancouver games, as a friend to help Canada greet the world in 2010.
There was some controversy over the process of selecting the design, which is by Rivera Group of Vancouver, and some further controversy over the logo itself and its supposed exploitation of native culture, but it does make a colorful and collectible stamp.
The 2010 Paralympic Games Emblem – Waves and Water
Vancouver 2010 theme is "Sea to Sky", a concept linking the scenic coastal city with Whistler’s majestic ski slopes. The blue and green of the stamps' background reflects this theme. The arrangement of the two dark blue hills, coupled with the white sun, together suggest the head and shoulders of a paralympian, while the fluid lines add an impression of motion.
The 2010 Winter Olympic Mascots: Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots have been criticized as being "space creatures", "too Japanese" and "too oriental", but they are based on indigenous mythological constructs. Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi were created to appeal to both children and adults.
- Miga is a sea bear, a mythical First Nations creature that is part killer whale and part Kermode spirit bear. Legends of the Pacific Northwest First Nations tell of orca whales that transform into bears when they arrive on land. Miga is shown on her stamp as a free-style skiier.
- Quatchi is a sasquatch (hence the name). The Vancouver 2010 version is a shy and gentle giant and a lover of winter sports, especially snowboarding and ice hockey. The story is that Quatchi dreams of becoming a world-famous goalie, as shown on this stamp.
- Sumi is an animal-guardian spirit, a chimera made of three parts. The tricorn hat represents the orca whale, the wings are from the Thunderbird (also common on totem poles in the area) and the black furry legs are from the black bear. Sumi is shown on the stamp in a wheelchair for paralympic curling.
- Mukmuk, a rare Vancouver Island marmot that acts as a sidekick and unofficial fourth mascot, is not featured on a stamp.
The mascots and sidekick were designed by the Vancouver-based company Meomi Design with artwork by Vicki Wong and Michael Murphye.
Postage stamps and related products (especially first-issue covers) are popular items among stamp collectors, and these 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics emblem and mascot stamps will no doubt continue that trend.
More on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Mascots
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Sports Stamps
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