Air force celebrates 50th birthday with set of seven stamps

Singapore Post will be launching a set of seven commemorative stamps in celebration of the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) 50th birthday.

They will go on sale from Saturday - 50 years from the day the Singapore Air Defence Command was formed in 1968.

Each design, by local designer Leo Teck Chong, features old and new elements, such as current fighter jet F-15SG and the air force's first fighter aircraft, the Hawker Hunter.

The stamps also features various vocations in the RSAF, such as aircrew and ground crew operating the various aircraft and ground-based systems.

Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Chiam, who is the RSAF50 head secretariat, told The Straits Times yesterday that the team worked with SingPost on a few designs before deciding on the final one.

Ideas that were rejected included designs that focused on RSAF missions and its latest equipment.

Of the current design, LTC Chiam said: "We juxtapose the old and the new in one stamp, and the vocations of the people that operate the assets. It tells the story of where we were, where we are today, and the people that make up the air force.

"It's about remembering the people who brought us to where we are, the shoulders of the giants we have stood on to build up the air force of today."

The RSAF was formally inaugurated on April 1, 1975.

On Saturday, the RSAF will hold a commemorative parade with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as the guest of honour.

The public will be able to buy these stamps at all post offices, the Philatelic Store, the Singapore Philatelic Museum, or online at shop.singpost.com

The stamps are for sale in seven denominations: 1st local, 2nd local, 60 cents, 70 cents, 90 cents, $1.30 and $2.

Pre-cancelled first-day covers, which contain the complete set of stamps, will be available at $7.85 each (inclusive of GST).