National Capitol Sesquicentennial

This stamp commemorates the 150th anniversary of the United States Capitol, one of the most, if not the most, recognizable buildings in the world.

Constructon was begun in 1793, the building was occupied in 1800, and the War of 1812 left the new building in ruins. All of this information, and much more, can be found at the excellent Architect of the Capitol website. A much better source for Capitol history than this site, for sure.

Let's think for a moment about the Capitol not as a building, but instead as an icon. The image of the Capitol building is often used as a symbol for America, just as other man-made structures are often used as symbols for their home countries. There are, of course, other buildings that could be used, and recognized, as symbols of America. The White House, certainly, and the Empire State building come to mind, but they don't quite reach that level of symbolism that the Capitol embodies.

There are other striking structures in the United States. The Golden Gate Bridge, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Sears Tower, the Hoover Dam all come to mind. All of these are instantly recognizable to most Americans, and to many outside of America. But as impressive as these structures are, they lack the weight and history of the Capitol building to represent all of America. They are regional symbols at best.

The World Trade Center was another symbol of America; it was destroyed by terrorists in 2001. The World Trade Center was a symbol on perhaps the same level as that of the White House and the Empire State building; instantly recognizable but without the weight of the Capitol building. And we must remember: it is widely believed that the target of the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania was the United States Capitol.

So I would (unscientifically) conclude that when one wants to present the image of a single structure and have it instantly represent an entire country, the formula of Capitol = United States is the best choice, and choice used most often.

What structures are used most often as symbols of other countries?

Here is the list I came up with. To make the list, the image of the structure would have to be instantly recognized by most as a symbol of its country. In other words, when you see a picture of that structure, you unconciously think "oh, yeah. That country". See if you agree with my list.

United States: U.S. Capitol
United Kingdom: Big Ben
France: Effiel Tower
Australia: Sydney Opera House
Russia: St. Peter's Basilica
India: Taj Mahal
Egypt: Pyramids
China: Great Wall
Italy: Leaning Tower of Pisa
Greece: Parthenon

I couldn't think of such a symbol for Germany. The Brandenburg Gate comes to mind, but I doubt most folks would recognize it without a caption. The Berlin Wall is another candidate, but I'm willing to bet most people know of the Berlin Wall more as concept and are less likely to remember exactly what it looked like.

There's something interesting about the structures on the list. While some of the buildings and structures on this list were built by governments, only 2 are government buildings.

We have a church and a temple, and a couple of tombs. There's a tower built as a World's Fair attraction, and a tower who's most striking feature is it's lack of uprightness. There's a building that is famous for it's wonderfully outrageous architecture. There's a really, really, really long wall, built centuries ago to keep out marauders.

There are also two buildings that house the legislative branches (the people's branches!) of the two most prominent democracies in the world, and it is those same two countries that have most often been the defenders of freedom abroad over last century.

Interesting, isn't it? I thought so.

If you've made this far, how about sticking with it a bit longer? We can't leave this stamp without mentioning "sesquicentennial".

We like to make Big Deals out of anniversaries, and for some reason, in units of 25 years. We go from Silver, Golden, and Diamond anniversaries, all in preperation and anticipation for the big 1-0-0: the Centennial.

And then there's the Bicentennial. Remember that? A Bigger Deal was never made in this country. I was just a little kid when the Bicentennial rolled around, and I still remember it. We were at my grandparents' mountain house in Arizona that July, and we watched the tall ships on TV. That was also the summer my grandfather and I made our own miniature golf course in the side yard (it was a bicenntenial commemorative miniature golf course).

But it's a long haul from Centennial to Bicentennial. What to do? Why, let's meet in the middle to celebrate, and let's give this 150 year mark it's very own name! How cool is that?

Sesquicentennial!