Fifty Years of Non-Alligned Movements and Flags (1961-2011)

Note: Colour shift (Yellow) in the first block of Sri Lankan stamps.

 Stamps issued by Cuba and Sri Lanka in commemoration of       50th anniversary of NAM in 2011

Fifty years ago in 1961 the heads of 28 nations gathered in Belgrade, former capital of Yugoslavia, to attend the first conference of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM). The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries.

The origins of the movement lay in the Bandung Conference, Indonesia, in 1955, at which Asian and African states met to find common ground and agreement for future cooperation, and proclaimed anti-colonialism and neutrality between East and West power blocs.

 50^thAnniversary of Bandung Conference (1955–2005)

The first Afro-Asian conference of the newly independent states of Africa and Asia held in Bandung, Indonesia in April 1955.

The post-World War II period saw the beginning of the Cold War confrontation and rivalry between the superpowers. It was at this juncture that the Non-Aligned Movement was forged, putting forth an alternative vision for the handling of international affairs and the resolution of international tensions. Rooted in the five principles of peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel), the movement stands for an alternative to confrontation.

The NAM movement’s founders are considered to be India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; Egypt’s second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah; Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno; and then-Yugoslavia President Josip Broz Tito. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the developing world between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War. Leaders at the 1961 summit agreed to promote world peace and cooperation by not aligning with either power bloc.

 

The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat and statesman V. Krisna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations.

Non-Aligned Movement Summit is the main meeting within the movement and are held every few years:

NAM Summits at a glance;

• First Conference - Belgrade, Yugoslavia,  September 1961
• Second Conference - Cairo, United Arab Republic, October 1964
• Third Conference - Lusaka, Zambia,, September 1970
• Fourth Conference - Algiers, Algeria,  September 1973 
•  Unissued (Withdrawn ?)stamp of Bhutan
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• Fifth Conference - Colombo, Sri Lanka,  August 1976
• Sixth Conference - Havana, Cuba,  September 1979
• Seventh Conference - New Delhi, India, March 1983
• Eighth Conference - Harare, Zimbabwe, September 1986
• Ninth Conference - Belgrade, S.F.R. Yugoslavia, September 1989
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• Tenth Conference - Jakarta, Indonesia,  September 1992
• Eleventh Conference - Cartagena de Indias, October 1995Twelfths Conference – Durban, South Africa, Sept. 1998 
•        Thirteenth Conference -  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2003.

       Fourteenth Conference -  Havana, Cuba, Sept. 2006

    Fifteenth Conference -   Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, July 2009

   Sixteenth Conference -  Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 2011.