COVER N.58 - Czech Republic

Postmark: Betlémské svĕtlo (The Light of Bethlehem) Olomouc 23DEC21
Posted on the 23rd December; received on the 3rd january
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The first cover for the new year, came on the very first day there was postal distribution, hailing from the Czech Republic. Thanks a lot, Ivan, and a very Happy New Year for you and yours.

Ivan used three very nice stamps on this cover, that also features a commemorative postmark.

left to right:

1 Koruna stamp issued on 15FEB2021, part of a definitive series themed on Butterflies started in 2020 with 3 stamps. The butterfly depicted is the "orange tip" (Anthocharis cardamines), a common species of the Pieridae family, that is present in all of Europe (Portugal included) and Asia, up to the Himalaian region.

B Tariff (domestic, Ordinary Letter - Standard up to 50g) stamp issued on 11NOV2021celebrating the  Christmas season, featuring a detail of a Christmas tree with ginger cookies, an apple and a blown glass ball decoration, something for which the Czech Republic is famous for, According to the Czech Post website, this particular stamp also had a special Christmas lavour added, a first for the Czech Post, but I guess this can only be experimented by the person licking the stamp 😅😅😅.

Another B tariff stamp, issued on 23JUN2021, dedicated to the "Ride of Kings", an event that takes place during the annual Kyjov folk festival, which is included on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Citing directly from the Czech Post website "The Rides of Kings, originating as a summer solstice celebration, have a history spanning at least two centuries. The king is a young boy dressed in a girl’s costume, wearing a rose in his mouth and riding a horse. He is accompanied by a large retinue of costumed aids with drawn sabres and scarves carried as banners. They go around the village, begging for money."

After a few hours riding the procession rides back to the House of the king where everything ends up merrily in dancing and feasting.

The special commemorative postmark highlights another Christmas tradition, imported from Austria to the Czech Republic: the distribution of the Bethlehem light. Every year Scouts ensure the distribution of a symbolic Christmas light originated in Autria, all across churches in the Czech Republic, so that believers can also light their candles with the same light. This is the reason why the Fleur de Lis, the symbol of the Scout Movement, is present in this postmark that was available in Brno, Olumuc (the one on my cover) and Prague from the 18th till the 23rd December.