Mix of religion, joy and goodwill

It’s time for Christmas stamps. Most countries release the stamps early so that they can be used to send greeting cards or other seasonal gifts in time for Christmas particularly recipients overseas.

Continuing its tradition of issuing religious and secular designs, Australia Post has released five stamps – three religious and two secular. 

The religious stamps depict three episodes from the familiar biblical story of the birth of Christ. They show Mary tenderly cradling her newborn son; a trumpeting angel announcing the glad tidings of the birth; and the three wise men sent by King Herod to investigate the birth of the Saviour. 

In the biblical Christmas story, the three wise men, or Magi, arrived in Jerusalem from the east, with news that the King of the Jews, or Messiah, had been born. Alarmed, King Herod ordered the wise men to embark on a journey to find the child. They followed a guiding star to Bethlehem, where they found the infant in a stable with Mary, his mother. 

The wise men were overwhelmed with reverence and awe. They knelt before the baby Jesus, offering precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, before returning to their own countries. 

The religious stamp designs have been created using the intricate art of hand paper-cut.

 Two other stamps have been designed to reflect more secular celebration, and the universal values of joy and goodwill. 

In keeping with the festive mood of the season, Australia Post has issued colourful pack presenting two embellished sheets of ten stamps each of the secular stamps, and another two sheets with five religious stamps each on the theme ‘Merry Christmas’. 

Collectors are also offered First Day covers, mini-sheet, booklets and maxicards.

Christmas 

Island stamps

Two stamps issued by Christmas Islands, the Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean continues a theme enjoyed by many at Christmastime each year. Two stamps depict how Santa and his Christmas Island friends deliver season’s greetings in their own unique style.

The designs show Santa making his annual visit to Christmas Island in the early hours of 25 December. After the freezing temperatures of the North Pole, he’s feeling the heat on this tropical speck in the middle of the Indian Ocean. But with the assistance of Rudolph and the trusty elves he refuses to be deterred from delivering Christmas cheer to Christmas Island’s eager inhabitants, including crabs, turtles, bosunbirds, frigatebirds and boobies. They’ve been waiting for hours, scanning the big blue sky for the first glimpse of Santa’s sleigh. 

As the red-clad Santa swoops across the steaming, dense forest he thinks that next year he might consider wearing something more suited to the island’s humid conditions.

An imaginative First day cover features the stamps embedded to an overall design which has also been issued as a mini-sheet. An embellished sheet of 10 and another sheet with five stamps have also been released.