Australia Post has been issuing special seasonal stamp designs for Christmas mailing since 1957 and, since 1975, stamps with reduced denominations for Christmas card postage. As in previous years, this year’s designs span both traditional Christmas scenes and secular elements.

This year’s religious stamps feature illustrations by Gavin Ryan, which pay homage to the use of stained glass as an architectural art form in churches and other public buildings. This year is the United Nations International Year of Glass. The Christmas 2022 minisheet illustration presents a Gothic-style church facade, with the stamps comprising two stylised stained-glass windows, with scenes that feature the Archangel Gabriel and the Madonna and Child.

The secular stamp designs present Christmas greetings and good tidings, together with a colourful Christmas star motif, using shapes and colours not unlike sections of stained glass.

Stamps in this Issue