12/12/2022
100 years of the BBC commemorated on a postage stamp
The Post of Serbia and the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Belgrade presented to the public a commemorative philatelic issue that the Post of Serbia is putting into circulation today on the occasion of the jubilee – 100 years since the founding of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
At the promotion in the PTT Museum, H.E. Sian MacLeod, British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Marko Protić, Editor of the BBC in Serbian, and Zoran Đorđević, Acting Director of the Post of Serbia spoke about the importance and influence of one of the world's largest broadcasters of radio and television programmes in the United Kingdom, Serbia and at the global level since its foundation until today.
"The BBC is a great British brand, one of our national institutions, part of our cultural heritage, and at the same time - a trusted source of information for millions of people around the world. In addition to news, the BBC is recognized and adored around the world for its entertainment, science and TV series programme. The younger generations in Serbia best recognize the BBC through television programmes such as David Attenborough’s The Blue Planet, Dr Who, Top Gear, Muzzy in Gondoland or Match of the Day. Common heroes and pop culture icons such as Del Boy or the Black Adder have united Britain with many societies around the world. I thank the Post of Serbia for this initiative, for the very interesting graphic solutions, which will perpetuate the work, values and mission of the BBC", said HM Ambassador MacLeod.
"The Post of Serbia joins the commemoration of the jubilee - 100 years of the famous BBC public broadcasting service, with a commemorative philatelic issue that conveys a clear common message that the United Kingdom and Serbia are connected by friendship and partnership in many important spheres, including media. We appreciate the BBC as an influential and widely recognized global broadcaster, which played an extremely important informative role in occupied Yugoslavia during the most difficult moments of the Second World War. We are grateful that it is still represented in our region today with a quality informative programme and other valuable content", said Zoran Đorđević. Congratulating the jubilee, Director Đorđević presented HM Ambassador MacLeod with a gift edition of commemorative postage stamps with the symbolic serial number 100.
The commemorative postage stamp in the block "Serbia - United Kingdom: 100 years since the founding of the BBC" shows the portraits of prominent writers – Borislav Pekić, who since 1985 was featured on BBC radio every other week and whose contents were later published in the book "Letters from Abroad", and George Orwell, who, through his appearances on BBC radio, represented the well-known voice of the fight against fascism for many listeners around the world in the period 1941-1943. Both participated in BBC programmes while they were broadcast from the famous Bush House building, the headquarters of the media house from 1941 to 2021. The artistic realization of the philatelic issue is the work of Boban Savić, MA, Academic Painter, Creator of postage stamps for the Post of Serbia.