Boy Scout Jamboree, Christchurch

The Cook Islands issued six square commemoratives at Rarotonga on 6 February 1969 for New Zealand’s 5th National Boy Scout Jamboree, held at Blue Skies Scout camp, Kaiapoi, near Christchurch, from 3 to 10 January 1969. The issue also marked the diamond jubilee of the New Zealand Scout Movement (1908–1968). The designs were based on photographs of Cook Islands Scouts. Heraclio Fournier printed the set by photogravure, line perforated 13½, each stamp 43 × 43 mm, with a fluorescent coat of arms. The stamps were withdrawn from sale on 31 May 1969.

Each design carries a small activity caption. The ½ cent (COOKS) shows two Scouts in white shirts and yellow neckerchiefs kneeling by a campfire, toasting food on sticks among trees. The 1 cent (PIONEERS) shows a Scout traversing an aerial ropeway while two others watch from the ground, one in a red beret. The 5 cents (SIGNALLING) shows a Scout from behind holding two semaphore flags, with a second Scout signalling in the middle distance against hills. The 10 cents (CONSERVATION) shows one Scout with a pickaxe and another kneeling to set a sapling. The 20 cents (ROVERS) shows four Scouts lashing a timber frame on grass. The 30 cents bears a portrait of Lord Baden-Powell in campaign hat and yellow neckerchief against a Rarotonga lagoon and palms, inscribed for his visit to the island in 1935.

The stamps were issued in panes of ten of a single value with two commemorative corner labels: one for the New Zealand Scout Movement diamond jubilee, the other the 5th National Jamboree emblem (Canterbury, 1969) among flowers. Sheet margins repeat a gold fleur-de-lis.