See A – L stamps, covers and cancels here Christmas 2022 stamps from around the world | Bitter Grounds Magazine
Malta
Malta issued 2 sets
Santa’s Workshop
2 stamps, souvenir sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, presentation packs
This set is the first to feature Santa and his elves in the 58 years Malta has issued Christmas themed stamps. A second set, with a religious theme, will be released in December.
Designer: Fabio Agius
Comic artist Agius also designed Malta’s Europa 2022 set. Co-founder of Malta’s Comic Con and Wicked Comics.
Release date: November 29, 2022
Christmas – Nativity of Jesus Christ
3 stamps on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, presentation pack
offset
The three sculptures on these stamps are the work of Joseph Scerri, who also designed the stamp. The original works are made of terracotta and represent three Nativity scenes featuring the shepherds, the magi and the holy family.
Designer: Joseph Scerri
Release date: December 16, 2022
Mexico
2 stamps
offset
Designer: César Flores Nandez
Release date: December 8, 2022 (date may not be correct)
Moldova
Christmas & New Year
2 stamps, sheets of 8, FDC, cancl
Designer: Oleg Cojocari
Release date: December 9, 2022
Monaco
Virgin and Child
1 stamp
offset & intaglio
Designer/engraver: Louis Genty
Genty is a newcomer to stamp design. He created his first stamp in 2021, Napoleon I, or Andorra (Fr).
Release date: November 3, 2022
New Caledonia
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, sheet of 25
Designer: Isabelle Ritzenthaler
Release date: November 15, 2022
Netherlands
A little story behind each stamp
10 stamps
Each December stamp tells a personal story about Christmas and the month of December. Each seal stands on its own, but together they form 1 cozy Christmas story. The Dutch December stamps 2022 by Miriam Bos — Miriam Bos – illustration and surface design
If you check out the link above, you can see a few illustrations in their early stages of development.
Stamps in order:
- The cup of hot chocolate
- The gingerbread house
- ‘December groeten’ or December Greetings
- The hand with Christmas mail
- The Snow Globe
- A festive dinner table
- wrapping gifts
- Sharing photos
- Oh, Christmas tree
- The cheerful box with glass ornaments
Miriam wrote a short note about the meaning behind each stamp on her blog The Dutch December Stamps 2022 – A little story behind each stamp — Miriam Bos – illustration and surface design
Interesting note one: Bos relied on freehand lettering for these stamps. “I drew a handful of sketches with different font styles, but in the end, the hand-lettered text was only used three times in the final designs. Namely in the form of ‘Geniet’ (Enjoy), ‘Oh Dennenboom’ (Oh, Christmas tree), and ‘December Greetings.'”
Designer/illustrator: Miriam Bos
Miriam Bos – illustration and surface design
Release date: December 2022
New Zealand
5 stamps in booklets of 10, mini sheet, 2 FDCs, cancel, sheets of 20, A and B blocks
4 colour lithography with metallic silver
Designer: Donna McKenna
Release date: October 5, 2022
North Macedonia
1 stamp
Thank you to a reader for filling in details about this icon.
Northern Macedonia. Passionate Icon of the Mother of God (1451). This is an icon of the Mother of God, revered in Orthodoxy, belongs to the iconographic type of the Odigitria. The icon got its name because of the image next to the face of the Virgin of angels holding the instruments of the Passion of Christ. Now the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God from the Holy Monastery is in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki in Moscow.
Release date: December 6, 2022
Norway
Gingerbread houses, gingerbread man
collectors pack, maxi cards
Designer: Camilla Kvien Jensen
Photographers: Elin Vatnar Nilsen, Mette Randem, Maren Baxter
Bakers: Gingerbread house: Elin Vatnar Nilsen, Maren Vøllestad, Maren Baxter.
Gingerbread man: Margrethe Lim
Release date: November 11, 2022
Paraguay
1 stamps + label
Designer/engraver: Dirección general del tesoro público – valores fiscales
Release date: December 2, 2022
Peru
Nativity
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
Release date: December 19, 2022
Philippines
I’m looking better images. FDCs are also available.
Designers: This stamp was a collaborative effort by Philippine Post artists Agnes Rarangol, Ryman Dominic Albuladora, Eunice Beatrix Dabu and Israle Viyo
Release date: December 8, 2022
Poland
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
offset
Designer: Poczta Polska S.A.
Release date: October 20, 2022
Romania
Nativity & 3 Wisemen
2 stamps FDC, cancel, 2 mini sheets of 6, sheets of 14, special folder
offseet
Souvenir sheet: Nativity of the Lord icon by an anonymous 17th c painter
Designer: George URSACHI
Release date: November 22, 2022
Russia
Happy New Year
2 stamps, 2 sheets of 9, 2 presentation packs, postcard, FDC, cancel
This set includes the Year of the Hare set
Designer: Korneyeva M.
Artists: Svetlana Chernykh and Polina Mitroshkina
Chernykh and Mitroshkina were winners of the All-Russian competition to design the New Year and Christmas set.
Release date: December 15, 2022
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Snack for Santa
1 stamp, sheets of 25
Designer: Myriam Fauglas
This is Fauglas’ first stamp design
Release date: November 5, 2022
San Marino
Star over San Marino
3 stamps, cancel, 3 sheets of 20
4 colour offset using a Pantone and yellow fluorescent invisible ink
Designer: Valentina Ascione – Studio Ascionemagro
Release date: November 12, 2022
Serbia
Winter Fairy Tale
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, sheets of 6
Designer: Unknown
Release date: December 15, 2022
Slovenia
Three Kings / Wax Cradle and New Year Celebrations
4 stamps, 4 FDCs, 4 cancels
Not sure the Nativity scene translated properly. The original is voščene jaslice and translates into wax crib or cradle.
Designer 3 Kings: Zadruga.traparij
Designer Wax Cradle: Edi Berk
Release date: December 11, 2022
Slovensko
Christological motifs in the work of P. M. Bohun (1822 – 1879)
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, booklet, postcard
Designer: Peter Nosáľ
Nosáľ is currently Assistant Prof at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava
Artist: Peter Michal Bohúň (1822 – 1879)
Bohúň was a Slovak painter who specialised in portraiture. This Encyclopedia of Knowledge has an interesting, but brief bio on him.
Release date: November 11, 2022
_____
Open the Christmas Mail
1 stamp, FDC, 5 cancels
Designer: Adrian Ferda
Slovensko post does a great job listing all the stamps and cancels for each of their artists. POFIS – Catalog – authors – Adrian Ferda
Release date: November 14, 2022
Spain
Each year Spain issues a number of stamps & commemorative cancels
Bethlehem of the Rock
Release date: November 7, 2022
The Virgin of the Milk – Luisa Roldán “La Roldana”
Artist: Luisa Roldán (@1650 – 1704)
The Astonishing Sculpture of Luisa Roldán | The Decorative Arts Trust
Release date: November 7, 2022
EL ESTERU VISITS LAREDO AT CHRISTMAS
Memorial postmark
The Esteru is a Christmas character from the oral tradition of Cantabria.
The Esteru is a big, warm hearted woodcutter with a beret, a smoking pipe and a long beard, who usually wears wooden albarcas and always takes his axe, his walking stick, and his loyal servant, el Burru (the Donkey). He represents kindness and goodness on the Earth. He lives in the forest in Cantabria and dedicates all year to cut wood, except on Christmas, when he manufactures the toys he will later deliver to all the homes in Cantabria. Esteru – EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki
Release date: December 15, 2022
Christmas Philatelic Expedition
Release date: November 19, 2022
Sri Lanka
Nativity Scenes
2 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel
Release date: December 6, 2022
Sweden
A Magical Christmas
10 stamps, booklet, FDC, cancel, 2 postal envelopes
A series of greeting cards were also produced using the same motifs
Designer: Sabina Wroblewski Gustrin
Release date: November 3, 2022
Switzerland
Sacred Art
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, 2 maxi cards
“Hostienmühle” window in Bern Cathedral
Designer: Bernard Schlup
Photography: Kantonale Denkmalpflege Aargau, Aarau (110 stamp),
Alexander Gempeler, Bern (230 stamp)
Release date: November 3, 2022
_____
Christmas – Festive Season
3 stamps, 4 FDCs, 3 cancels, 3 sheets of 10, greeting cards
Designer: Sarah von Rickenbach
von Rickenbach was one of 3 designers invited to participate in Das Ganz, a competition to create Switzerland’s 2022 Christmas stamp. Each created 3 stamps, which were voted on by Swiss Post staff members. Sarah described the process ” I put a lot of effort into the project, sketched a lot, screwed around until the colors and moods in the individual subjects met my expectations and refined everything down to the smallest detail.” Sarah von Rickenbach | Illustration & Design on Instagram: “wie kommt man eigentlich dazu eine briefmarkenserie zu gestalten? 💌✨ diese frage wurde mir in den letzten tagen einige male gestellt. es…”
Release date: November 3, 2022
Ukraine
Shchedryk – Carol of the Bells
1 stamp, sheets of 4, FDC
This stamp is a celebration of the Carnegie Hall in New York premiere of “Shchedryk – Carol of the Bells” by Mykola Leontovych 100 years ago
Designer: Миколай Кочубей / Mykola Kochubey
Release date: December 23, 2022
United States
Holiday Elves
4 stamps in booklets of 20, 4 FDCs, 2 cancels
A special release ceremony took place on Sept. 15 at:
Santa Claus House
101 St. Nicholas Drive
North Pole, AK 99705
Special guest at the ceremony was Santa himself. Blitzen took time out of his schedule to attend a well.
Artist: Don Clark
Designer: Antonio Alcalá
Release date: September 15, 2022
Vatican
Christmas of the Lord
2 stamps, cancel
Designer: Francesco Canale
Francesco Canale and his “dream with open eyes” (postsen.com)
Release date: November 16, 2022
If you like Christmas stamps, you can find more here Christmas 2021
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НeLLo! Northern Macedonia. Passionate Icon of the Mother of God (1451). This is an icon of the Mother of God, revered in Orthodoxy, belongs to the iconographic type of the Odigitria. The icon got its name because of the image next to the face of the Virgin of angels holding the instruments of the Passion of Christ. Now the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God from the Holy Monastery is in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki in Moscow.
This is wonderful! I’ll add your details right now. Thank you for taking the time to fill in the details for me. Much appreciated.
catpaw
Thank you for a very interesting magazine. Can I write to you, if I have not tired you, that very interesting stamps of Israel have come out. Such stamps have been issued in Israel every year since 2004, counting on tourists, primarily from Russia (many sources write about this), who want to send postcards with a holiday stamp to their home or friends. Their release was the result of a compromise – the religious lobby, which carefully monitors the issue policy (there are a lot of interesting things with stamps withdrawn for religious reasons), agreed to issue these stamps – provided that Christmas is not directly mentioned on them.
So these are the only brands in the world where you can read “Seasonal greetings”. This is a politically correct form of Christmas greetings accepted in the English-speaking world so as not to offend representatives of other religions and non-believers. At the same time, it is timed precisely to the pre-Christmas period, but mentions some abstract “seasonal greetings”. A way to wish Merry Christmas without wishing Merry Christmas 🙂 Since 2004 (and some such stamps were issued back in the 90s), this is a unique greeting in combination with “… from the Holy Land!” (“Seasonal greetings from the Holy Land!”) is present on stamps of Israel.
I know that my English is very bad, please correct it.
This is excellent! Thank you. I would have missed them.
You English isn’t bad, by the way. It’s very good. And I appreciate you adding this information to the list. I’ll post it, with your comments today.
You made my day Lana!
Cheers
Catpaw