Canada issues two Ottawa RedBlacks stamps June 19

Canada Post unveiled and issued two Ottawa RedBlacks permanent rate stamps June 19. The booklet stamp and coil stamp are pictured nearby.

The Canadian Football League’s return to Ottawa is celebrated with this new stamp issue. There hasn’t been a CFL team in the city prior to 2006 when the Ottawa Renegades disbanded before the season started.

The stamps were designed by Filip Mroz and David Rosenberg of Bensimon Byrne. The stamp illustrations were created by Ron Dollekamp.

The commemorative booklet stamp, according to Rosenberg, shows “a renowned hero from the days of the Ottawa Rough Riders in dramatic stance” and an image of the new Lansdowne Park stadium.

The player depicted is quarterback Russ Jackson, who led the Rough Riders throughout the 1960s and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

The coil stamp prominently features the RedBlacks logo.

The booklet stamp was printed by Canadian Bank Note, and Lowe-Martin produced the coil stamp.

The stamps were printed by six-color offset lithography on Tullis Russell paper, with general tagging on all four sides. The self-adhesive booklet stamps have serpentine die cuts on all four sides.

Printing quantities for the issue are 1.5 million booklet stamps and 1 million coil stamps. Canada Post created 11,500 first-day covers, each franked with both stamps.

Additional details about this stamp issue were published in the June 30 issue of Linn’s.