Postage stamps. Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth II. 650th Anniversary of the Order of the Garter. The Queen's Beasts.
The stamps, in a se-tenant strip of 5, commemorate the 650th Anniversary of the Order of the Garter and depict the Queen's Beasts. The Queen's Beasts are ten heraldic statues representing the genealogy of Queen Elizabeth II, depicted as the Royal supporters of England. They stood in front of the temporary western annexe to Westminster Abbey for the Queen's coronation in 1953. Each of The Queen's Beasts consists of an heraldic beast supporting a shield bearing a badge or arms of a family associated with the ancestry of Queen Elizabeth II. They were commissioned by the British Ministry of Works from sculptor James Woodford (who was paid the sum of £2,750 for the work). They were uncoloured except for their shields at the coronation. The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by King Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. The Order of the Garter is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George, England's patron saint. Appointments are made at the Sovereign's sole discretion. Membership of the Order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than 24 living members, or Companions. The order also includes supernumerary knights and ladies (, members of the British royal family and foreign monarchs). New appointments to the Order of the Garter are often announced on St George's Day (23 April), as Saint George is the order's patron saint. The order's emblem is a garter with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense (Middle French: "Shame on him who thinks evil of it") in gold lettering. Members of the order wear it on ceremonial occasions.
Size: 5797px × 1133px
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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