2018-09-27 Thu

The UNPA will be releasing three definitive stamps on 2nd October depicting illustrations of a bronze sculpture named Non-Violence or the “Knotted Gun” that was created as a tribute to John Lennon. The sculpture shows a 45-calibre revolver whose barrel is tied in a knot. It’s a fitting tribute to the legendary musician who was shot dead on 8th December 1980.

A Swedish artist and a dear friend of Lennon, Carl Fredrik Reutersward built the sculpture. After Luxembourg donated the sculpture to the UN in 1988, it was placed outside the UN headquarters in New York City. Today, it has become a symbol of peace and non-violence worldwide.

The Knotted Gun interpretation Ringo Starr created for the Non-Violence Art Project of the Non-Violence Project Foundation is featured on the €2.30 stamp. This stamp can be used from the U.N. post office at Vienna, Austria. This version of the sculpture was revealed by Starr himself on 8th December 2011, a day which marked the 31st death anniversary of Lennon at the Gibson Guitar Studio in London. The word “Imagine” is written above the trigger, which is the name of a famous 1971 song by Lennon.

Swedish explorer and motivational speaker Johan Ernst Nilson created the sculpture featured on the €0.90 definitive. This version of the sculpture is painted with all U.N. flags as a message of peace. This stamp also is for use from the Vienna International Center.

The 1¢ stamp features Reutersward’s Non-Violence sculpture by a Swedish-born stamp engraver and designer named Martin Morck. This one is for use from U.N. headquarters in New York City.

600,000 1¢ stamps, 300,000 €0.90 stamps, and 260,000 €2.30 stamps have been printed using the offset lithography plus hexachome technique by Joh. Enschede of the Netherlands. The 1¢ stamps are printed in sheets of 50, and the other two, in sheets of 20. More stamps would be printed as and when required since these are definitive stamps.

Image Courtesy: The UNPA