Australian Legends
Encyclopedia
The Australian Legends is an annual series of commemorative
postage stamp
s issued by Australia Post
since 1997. The stamps commemorate living Australians who have made lifetime contributions to the development of the Commonwealth's national identity and character. Prior to 1997, the only living persons who could appear on Australian stamps were members of the British Royal Family.
As examples of Australian graphic art, the stamps are designed to tell the story of events and personalities that shaped contemporary Australia. Each becomes part of a collective Australian memory which reflects Australian values and documents the development of Australia's national identity.
In addition to the philatelic
commemoration, the honour is also known as the Australia Post Australian Legends Award.
Commemorative stamp
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...
postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s issued by Australia Post
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
since 1997. The stamps commemorate living Australians who have made lifetime contributions to the development of the Commonwealth's national identity and character. Prior to 1997, the only living persons who could appear on Australian stamps were members of the British Royal Family.
As examples of Australian graphic art, the stamps are designed to tell the story of events and personalities that shaped contemporary Australia. Each becomes part of a collective Australian memory which reflects Australian values and documents the development of Australia's national identity.
In addition to the philatelic
Philately
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...
commemoration, the honour is also known as the Australia Post Australian Legends Award.
Issue details
- 1997 – Sir Donald BradmanDonald BradmanSir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
, one of the world's greatest cricket players - 1998 – Australian Olympians, Betty CuthbertBetty CuthbertElizabeth Cuthbert AM, MBE is an Australian athlete, and a fourfold Olympic champion....
, Herb ElliottHerb ElliottHerbert James "Herb" Elliott AC MBE is a former Australian athlete, one of the world's greatest middle distance runners...
, Dawn FraserDawn FraserDawn Fraser AO, MBE is an Australian champion swimmer. She is one of only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event three times – in her case the 100 meters freestyle....
, Marjorie JacksonMarjorie JacksonMarjorie Jackson-Nelson, AC, CVO, MBE is a former Governor of South Australia and a former Australian athlete...
, Murray RoseMurray RoseIain Murray Rose AM was born on 6 January 1939 in Nairn, Scotland, but he moved to Australia with his family at an early age after World War II. He took up swimming as a boy and was an Olympic Games champion at age 17....
and Shirley StricklandShirley StricklandShirley Barbara Strickland AO, MBE , later Shirley de la Hunty, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.-Family:... - 1999 – Arthur BoydArthur BoydArthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
, artist - 2000 – The Last AnzacsAustralian and New Zealand Army CorpsThe Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
, Roy LongmoreRoy LongmoreRoy Longmore was an Australian centenarian, and one of the last two living veterans of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps serving in World War I.-ANZAC soldier:...
, Walter ParkerWalter Parker (ANZAC)Walter Parker was an Australian centenarian, one of the last three living veterans of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who served in World War I.-ANZAC soldier:...
and Alec CampbellAlec CampbellAlexander William Campbell was the final surviving Australian participant of the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War. His death broke the last living link of Australians with the Gallipoli story.... - 2001 – Slim DustySlim DustyDavid Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
, a celebrated country music composer and performer - 2002 – Medical Scientists, haematologist Professor Donald MetcalfDonald MetcalfEmeritus Professor Donald Metcalf AC FRS FAA is an Australian medical researcher who spent most of his career at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne...
, microbiologist Professor Nancy MillisNancy MillisEmeritus Professor Nancy Fannie Millis AC is an Australian microbiologist, who introduced fermentation technologies to Australia, and created the first applied microbiology course taught in an Australian university....
, immunologists Professor Sir Gustav NossalGustav NossalSir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal, AC, CBE, FRS, FAA is an Australian research biologist.-Life and career:Gustav Nossal's family was from Vienna, Austria. He was born four weeks prematurely in Bad Ischl while his mother was on holiday...
and Professor Peter C. Doherty, and epidemiologist and public health researcher Professor Fiona StanleyFiona StanleyFiona Stanley, AC is an Australian epidemiologist noted for her public health work, and her research into child and maternal health, and birth disorders such as cerebral palsy.-Life:... - 2003 – Tennis Champions, Margaret Court and Rod LaverRod LaverRodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...
- 2004 – Dame Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
, world-renowned soprano opera singer - 2005 – Fashion designers, Prue ActonPrue ActonPrue Acton, OBE is an Australian fashion designer, and is often referred to as Australia's "golden girl" of fashion' during the 60's.-Early life:...
, Jenny BannisterJenny Bannister-Early life:Bannister studied Fashion Design and Production at RMIT's Emily McPherson College, and commenced her career in 1975 as a recycled denim designer.-Career:...
, Collette DinniganCollette DinniganCollette Dinnigan is an Australian based fashion designer. Born in South Africa, Dinnigan moved to New Zealand, then Australia, where she obtained work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, Akira IsogawaAkira Isogawais one of Australia's most prominent contemporary fashion designers. Born in Japan, he immigrated to Australia in 1986, studying fashion at East Sydney Technical Collage drawing from inspiration from contemporary Japanese design. He also opened up a store in Woollahra, Sydney, in 1993. By the...
, Joe SabaJoe SabaJoe Saba is an Australian fashion designer and fashion business owner.He started his fashion business in 1965 with the opening a store in 287 Flinders Lane Melbourne called the Joseph Saba Shirt and Sweater Shop. The Saba store was later in Collins Street, Melbourne. In 1969 he established a label...
and Carla ZampattiCarla ZampattiCarla Maria Zampatti AC is an Italian-Australian fashion designer and businesswoman.Carla Zampatti is Executive Chairman of Carla Zampatti Pty Limited. She is also a Trustee of the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation Trust, and is a Board Member of the Australian Multicultural Foundation.Born in... - 2006 – Barry HumphriesBarry HumphriesJohn Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
, satirist and actor - 2007 – Legends of Australian Horse Racing, George MooreGeorge T. D. MooreGeorge Thomas Donald Moore OBE was an Australian jockey and Thoroughbred horse trainer. He began his career in racing in 1939 in Brisbane where he quickly became one of the top apprentice jockeys and where in 1943 he won the Senior Jockeys' Premiership. He then relocated to Sydney and in 1949 went...
, Roy HigginsRoy HigginsRoy Henry Higgins MBE is a former Australian jockey who rode in the late 1960s and the 1970s. He grew up in the southern New South Wales town of Deniliquin where he was apprenticed to local horse trainer Jim Watters...
, Bart CummingsBart CummingsJames Bartholomew 'Bart' Cummings, AM is one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He is known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as the he has won the 'race that stops a nation' a record 12 times....
, Bob Ingham, John Tapp and Arthur "Scobie" BreasleyScobie BreasleyArthur Edward "Scobie" Breasley was an Australian jockey. He won the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne five times: 1942-45 consecutively on Tranquil Star, Skipton, Counsel and St Fairy; then on Peshawar in 1952... - 2008 – Australian Legends of Philanthropy, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Victor SmorgonVictor SmorgonVictor Smorgon AC was an Australian industrialist, arts patron and benefactor, who was founder and former head of the Victor Smorgon Group....
and Loti Smorgon, Lady Mary Fairfax, and Frank LowyFrank LowyFrank Lowy, AC is an Australian-Israeli businessman. He is a co-founder of the Westfield Group, operator of over 100 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Great Britain... - 2009 – Australian Legends of the Screen, Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, Russell CroweRussell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, Nicole KidmanNicole KidmanNicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, and Geoffrey RushGeoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen... - 2010 – Writers, Peter Carey (novelist), Bryce CourtenayBryce CourtenayArthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors.-Background and early years:...
, Thomas KeneallyThomas KeneallyThomas Michael Keneally, AO is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor...
and David MaloufDavid MaloufDavid George Joseph Malouf is an acclaimed Australian writer. He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2000, his 1993 novel Remembering Babylon won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, he won the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008, and he was... - 2011 – Advancing equality of women, Eva CoxEva CoxEva Cox AO is an Austrian-born Australian writer, feminist, sociologist, social commentator, stirrer and activist. She has been an active advocate for creating more civil societies. She is a long-term member of Women's Electoral Lobby...
, Elizabeth EvattElizabeth EvattElizabeth Andreas Evatt, AC , an emminent Australian reformist lawyer and jurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the first Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia, the first female judge of an Australian federal court, and the first Australian to...
, Germaine GreerGermaine GreerGermaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
and Anne Summers