As the nation salutes the astonishing success of Team GB at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad held in Beijing, Royal Mail and China Post have issued an historic joint miniature sheet of four postage stamps to mark the handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London. This was made part of the spectacular Closing Ceremony on August 24.

The Olympic Games souvenir sheet, formally issued on Friday August 22, contains four 1st class non-denominational stamps that depict well-known ancient and modern landmarks in London and Beijing. It was printed litho by Walsall Security Printers in the Midlands and is on sale in the United Kingdom and in China.

Each stamp on the sheet, entitled "Olympic Games - Handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London", features the iconic Olympic rings, representing the five continents of the world. The Queen's head only appears on the Royal Mail version. The stamp issue is the first partnership of its kind between Royal Mail and China Post.

The modern steel structures shown on the stamps are the National Stadium in Beijing, nicknamed the Bird's Nest Stadium because of its architecture, and the London Eye, the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, opened in 2000. The past tradition of each country is represented by the Tower of London, a former royal residence, and the Corner Tower of the Forbidden City, situated in Beijing, home of the Emperor of China. The illustrations are clear and beautifully conceived.

Asked for his reaction to the Olympic Games Handover miniature sheet the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, replied: "How to picture London? The latest collection of Royal Mail stamps begins with ancient and modern, the Tower and the Eye. I now look forward to the Olympic Games in London, the global crossroads - how are we going to picture that on a postage stamp?"

Royal Mail also released a range of related products including a presentation pack that features UK Olympic Gold Medal Winners of the past, a set of five stamp cards, showing enlarged images of each of the four stamps and the miniature sheet. The filler card in special first day cover includes details of times, distances and records from previous Olympic Games and compares them to records up to the start of the Beijing Olympic Games.

On July 24 Royal Mail issued a sheet of 10 1st class non-denominational Union Jack stamps together with 10 stamp labels reproducing photographs from the London 1908 Olympics.

Royal Mail is likely to issue several sets of special stamps and related products as excitement and anticipation mount in the four-year build-up to the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London, set for July 27, 2012.

Australia Post has again issued instant stamps featuring each of its gold medal winners as it did for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Athens 2004 Games. Royal Mail surely now has an opportunity to capture the mood of the nation and issue a series of special instant stamps depicting the Team GB gold medal winners at the Beijing Olympic Games. Such stamps would assuredly be welcomed, collected and treasured by stamp collectors and non-collectors alike.

Would it be too patriotic to suggest to Royal Mail that it donate a significant proportion of the total sales revenue from all its Olympic stamps and related products to help fund potential medal winners as they prepare for London 2012? Relatively few of the four stamps contained in the Olympic Handover souvenir sheet will be used for actual postal purposes and the great majority of the revenue will be generated by philatelic sales throughout the world.

London will become the first city officially to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. The London 2012 Olympic Games must now endeavour to embody the proud Olympic motto: "Faster - Higher - Stronger" and take the Games even further forward.