Christmas 2017 stamps from Christmas Islands

Date of Issue : 1 November 2017

Here is a beautiful set of stamps and a Miniature sheet issued by Christmas Islands for this year's Christmas..In recognition of Christmas Island’s name (selected by Captain William Mynors, as he sailed past the island on Christmas Day, 1643), Christmas Island Christmas stamps have been issued every year, since 1984. They are a light-hearted take on Christmas in the southern hemisphere.

The stamps

Illustrated by Shane McGowan, this year’s stamps and minisheet show Santa taking time out from delivering presents to practise his golf swing on the spectacular Christmas Island nine-hole golf course.

In the minisheet design, One see that the island’s famous red crabs are enjoying stealing some of Santa’s errant golf balls, which Santa’s elves are doing their best to rescue and fashion into a Christmas tree, to add some festive flair to the golf course. The island’s many seabirds are also enjoying the view.

$2 Santa

The international-Christmas-card-rate stamp features Santa teeing off.

65c Rudolf

The domestic Christmas-card-rate stamp features Rudolf, as Santa’s trusty golf caddy.

Sheetlet of 5 X$2

This sheetlet contains 5 x $2 self-adhesive International stamps from the Christmas Island Christmas 2017 stamp issue.

Source : Australian Postal Corporation

Christmas 2016 stamps from Christmas Island

Christmas Island Post has introduced two holiday stamps that continues a theme enjoyed by many at Christmas time each year. 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.

New Christmas stamps

 

Date of Issue : 30 October  2015

Hi

I am back after   Deepawali vacations. Diwali is the biggest one week festival of North India and during this festival people are in festive mood all around with family and friends. This is the reason I could not write any post for the last one week.

Now once again a month long  global festive celebration of  of Christmas and New Year  is going to start . Here are new philatelic issues on Christmas  to delight stamp collectors all  over the world.

Christmas stamps from Christmas Islands

This year‘s Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue has taken a humorous approach to linking the festive theme to the island’s name.

Located in the Indian Ocean some 2,600 kilometres northwest of Perth, Christmas Island is the sole peak of an underwater mountain range rising above the ocean’s surface.

The island came under Australian control in 1958, but Australia Post has produced its stamps only since 1993. Over recent years, the Christmas Island Christmas issue has taken a humorous approach to linking the festive theme to the island’s name.

Stamp and coin cover

Red Crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) are a familiar sight on Christmas Island, and they make a strong appearance in this Christmas stamp issue. Like dexterous circus performers mimicking a human pyramid, they stack themselves into a Christmas tree in the island’s forested interior. Atop the crab-tree an Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica natalis) is poised, with a string of tinsel in its beak.

In the other stamp, the comical Red Crabs hail the presence of a tropical, if not also oxymoronic, snowman – the northern hemisphere symbol having been transported to the isle in the sunny south.

Club News

'Republic Day 2016' Stamp Design Competition

Department of Posts is holding Stamp design competition for Republic Day 2016 and the theme of the competition is “Vibrant India”.

Terms and Conditions to participate in “Republic Day 2016 - Stamp Design Competition” are as follows:

1. Entries are invited for ‘Republic Day 2016 - Stamp Design Competition’. The theme of the competition is “Vibrant India”. The participants are to make an original design on this subject (should not be copy of picture painted by someone else).
2. Any citizen of India can participate in this contest. The design could be in ink, water, colour, oil colour or any other medium (Computer printed/ printout will not be allowed). The design submitted should be such that can be depicted on the stamps in a visually appealing manner so as to be of interest to philatelic collectors.
3. Participants are free to use drawing paper, art paper or any other type of white paper of A4 size.
4. The following particulars should be written legibly on the reverse of the design:

   1. Name of the participant*
   2. Age*
   3. Gender
   4. Nationality*
   5. Full and complete residential address with Pin Code*
   6. Phone/Mobile Number*
   7. E-mail ID (if Available)
   *It is compulsory to provide the information.

5. An undertaking stating that ‘The artwork submitted is original and no copyright issues are involved’ should be sent along with the entry. In case of any legal dispute related to copyright issue, Department of Posts will not be liable for the same.
6. The design should be sent through “Speed Post” only, in A4 size envelope. The participants should mention “Republic Day 2016-Stamp Design Contest”on the envelope in which the drawing is sent.
7. Selected designs will be considered for use on stamps and other philatelic material. The Prize money will be as follows:
   First Prize: Rs. 10,000
   Second Prize: Rs. 6,000
   Third Prize: Rs. 4,000
8. The entries should reach on following address by 30.11.2015. The entries received after last date of receipt will not be entertained.

   To,
   ADG (Philately)
   Room No. 108(B),
   Dak Bhawan,
   Parliament Street,
   New Delhi – 110001

 

New stamps on Christmas

 

Festive  stamps on Christmas from Christmas Islands

Date of Issue : 31 October 2014

As the Christmas is approaching, postal administrations round the world are issuing stamps for this year’s Christmas. Some  of the stamps are so beautiful with the funny and smiling images of Santa depicting the festive activities of Christmas !! Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ celebrated on December 25. It incorporates religious practices, exchanging gifts, decorations at home, companies, and public areas, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Clause to arrive. Here are some recent issues on Christmas….

Christmas Island Post issued  Christmas stamps on 31st October to celebrate the upcoming holiday. The designs which are inscribed “Christmas Island Australia” feature Father Christmas and Christmas Island red crabs.

Christmas Island festive season stamps are traditionally a light-hearted and humorous depiction of Father Christmas enjoying Christmas festivities on the island with the various creatures, including crabs and birds that the island is renowned for. All are busily preparing Christmas Island for seasonal activities, including gift giving. Crabs dressed in Santa hats join Father Christmas while he carries starfish to adorn the tree. A single reindeer, with a red crab perched on his nose, is watching with interest from afar.

 

Christmas and New Year traditions from Aruba

 

Date of Issue : 22 October 2014

Aruba Post released a series of festive stamps celebrating Christmas and New Year 2014. Christmas is a festival full of fun and enthusiasm. New Year’s Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in the Roman Empire since 45 BC. Romans originally dedicated New Year’s Day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings for whom the first month of the year (January) is named.

In present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their de facto calendar, New Year’s Day is probably the world’s most celebrated public holiday, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.

Joint issue from Argentina and Vatican City for this year’s Christmas

 

This year’s Christmas postage stamp series produced by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office is a joint issue with Argentina and consists of a 0.85 cent value in a sheet of ten. The theme chosen to represent the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is taken from paintings by Argentinian artist Raúl Soldi (1905-1994), who produced the works in the church of Saint Anne in Glew (Buenos Aires).

On the stamp, the baby Jesus is at the center of a complex composition: the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the Magi, and above in the depiction of the sky, there are two angels who dominate the scene together with a number of knights.

 

Santa’s Magic holiday stamps from Canada Post

 

Date of Issue : 27 October 2014

Canada Post released a series of stamps featuring the trio of Santa stamps and painting of Virgin and Child. Canada Post blends the playful and magical essence of the holidays with the sacred tradition of Christmas with its latest holiday stamp issue.

The issue features three whimsical and colourful depictions of Santa Claus, a symbol of the holidays for much of the world.  Each stamp shows Santa performing his many important tasks. The fourth stamp in the issue – a Permanent TM domestic stamp – features a beautiful detail that shows a classic 17th century painting of the Virgin and Child. The painting is part of the collection at Basilica Cathedral Notre-Dame de Québec in Quebec City. This year’s stamp issue recognizes the parish’s 350th anniversary.

 

New stamps on Year of Horse

 

Date of Issue : 7 January 2014

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, Christmas Island (Australia Post) released a Lunar New Year stamp issue featuring the Chinese character for the horse, shown in the $1.80 stamp, and its pictorial representation, shown in the 60c stamp.

The Horse is the seventh sign in the Chinese zodiac and symbolizes strength and animation. The Year of the Horse begins on 31 January 2014.The miniature sheet tells the story (in Chinese and English) about The Chinese idiom –laomashitu – literally means an old horse knows the way; experience is valuable.

The Chinese zodiac uses animal signs to date the years over a 12-year cycle and 2014 is the Year of the Horse. For festive seasons, such as New Year, the Chinese lunar calendar is the determining factor.

Those born in the Year of the Horse are said to be intuitive, practical and quick-witted. Horses make excellent teachers, politicians and performers. Some famous Horses include Rembrandt, Chopin, Sir Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Horse Years over the last century were 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990 and 2002.

 

New Special Cover

India Post Kerala Postal circle released a special cover on the occasion of Gandhismrithi 2014 at Payyanur. For more information, Please contact: K. V. Mukundan Master (M): +919447486928 or Roop Balram (M) +91 8281959028.

: Sreejesh Krishnan - Trivandrum

New Christmas Stamps..

 

Date of Issue : 1 November 2013

As always Christmas Island Issued  magnificent stamps for this year’s Christmas. The Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue takes a colourful approach to the festive season through illustrations of Santa and Christmas Island fauna. The island was named by Captain William Mynors, who sailed past it on 25 December 1643.

Santa has taken to the air, but not in his traditional mode of transport. Here, he rides on the back of a Frigatebird, with a banner streaming out behind him, announcing tidings of the festive season.

In the other design, a Frigatebird and a Red Crab ferry a payload of presents in a hot-air balloon, while Christmas Island can be seen far below in the blue waters of the Indian Ocean. The skies in the minisheet are alive with a menagerie of local inhabitants: Green Turtles, Golden Bosunbirds, Frigatebirds, Abbott’s Boobys, Red Crabs and a Blue Crab.

New stamp from UAE..

Date of Issue : 31 October 2013

Emirates Post has issued a commemorative stamp (AED 3) on 31st Oct 2013 to celebrate the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, which is run in three courses, long, short and fast covering swimming, cycling and running.

: Kenneth Sequeira- Dubai (UAE)

Club News

A special cover was issued at Chennai to mark World Acupuncture Day on 24th October 2013. Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day is observed annually on October 24.

: Sa.Vejeykummar - Chennai

Christmas stamps from Christmas Island…

 

     

Date of Issuer : 1 November 2012

Christmas Island issued a set of two beautiful stamps and a Mini sheet on 1st November 2012 for this year’s Christmas.

Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean some 2,600 kilometres north-west of Perth, Christmas Island is the sole peak of an underwater mountain range to rise above the ocean's surface. The island was named by Captain William Mynors, who sailed the Royal Mary past it on Christmas Day 1643.

Over recent years, the Christmas Island Christmas stamp issue has taken a humorous approach to linking the festive theme to the island's name. This year artistic licence prevails, as Santa - aided by a Greater Frigatebird, a Green Turtle and Red Crabs - creates sculptures from the island's granular sand. Joyfully wrapped gifts arrive by land and by air. Christmas Island stamps can be used for postage within Australia.

Christmas 2012 stamps from Gibraltar..

 

 

Date of Issue : 2 November 2012

Hi !

Here are some wonderful stamps to be issued tomorrow  by Gibraltar Post. The stamps are so lovely that anyone would like to have them in his/her collection. I just love these stamps !! This set of stamps is a lovely Christmas gift !!

This is all for this evening…..More in Next Post…Have a Nice Time !!

 

    

Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or Santa, is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas,which, in turn, may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of gift giver Saint Nicholas. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea. Basil’s feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece.

Santa Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children’s books and films. The North American depiction of Santa Claus as it developed in the 19th and 20th century in turn influenced the modern perceptions of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas and Saint Nicholas in European culture.

   

According to a tradition which can be traced to the 1820s, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, with a large number of magical elves, and nine (originally eight) flying reindeer. Since the 20th century, in an idea popularized by the 1934 song “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (“naughty” or “nice”) and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who make the toys in the workshop and the reindeer who pull his sleigh.

 

Crabs from Christmas Islands

 

Date of Issue : 7 June 2011

Here are new stamps from Christmas Island featuring four varieties of crabs which are found there.The land crabs of Christmas Island are remarkable for their abundance and the role they play in the ecology of the island's rainforest. Through their scavenging activities they recycle nutrients locked in fallen leaves. Their burrowing tills the soil and their browsing on tree fruits and shoots is probably an important factor in determining forest composition.

Twenty-three land or freshwater crabs have been identified on the island. The following  varieties are  featured on stamps .

Red crab Gecarcoidea natalis (60c)
The sight of the red crabs on their annual breeding migration is one of the outstanding natural spectacles of the world.

Robber crab Birgus latro (60c)
The robber crab lives mainly on fallen leaves and fruits of the rainforest, and is one of the largest and most common crabs on Christmas Island.

Jackson's crab Karstarma jacksoni ($1.20)
Along with the red and blue crabs, Jackson's crab is thought to be endemic to Christmas Island and is found in cool, moist environments.

Blue crab Discoplax hirtipes ($1.20)
The blue crab lives mainly on the fallen leaves and fruits of the rainforest and is one of the largest and most common crabs found on Christmas Island.

 

Gutter Strip

Year of the Rabbit…

 

 

Date of Issue : 11 January 2011

 

The Rabbit is the fourth sign in the Chinese zodiac and symbolises creativity, compassion and sensitivity. In the Chinese story of the Jade Rabbit, three sages transformed themselves into pitiful old men, and begged for food from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the rabbit, who had no food to give, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh instead. The sages were so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon Palace, where he became known as the "Jade Rabbit".

The stamps show the development of the Chinese character for the Rabbit, shown fully in the $1.80 stamp, and the way it is derived from its pictorial representation, shown in the 60c stamp. Paper-cut motifs are used to pictorially represent the Rabbit in the 60c stamp. Paper cuts are one of the most popular forms of Chinese art and are commonly used to decorate windows, lanterns, mirrors, gates and walls during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

The miniature sheet tells the story (in Chinese and English) about the Jade Rabbit and how he came to be on the moon.

 

 

: Australia Post

Club News

INDIPEX 2011 – special features

My Stamp

Your Personalized Stamp  - only Rs.150per sheet.

One of the most exciting feature of the exhibition is the My Stamp which is being introduced by India Post for the first time in India. Also known as ‘Personalised stamp‘, My Stamp is a wonderful way to celebrate special occasions such as engagements, birth of a baby, or to send as greetings to loved ones and friends. You can now have photographs of yourself and your loved ones on a real India Post stamp sheet. Send out greetings on special occasions with a difference with stamps beaming your photograph or just preserve the stamp sheet.

The template on My Stamp would be printed on the six themes:

1. Trains
2. Aeroplanes
3. Wildlife
4. Panchatantra
5. Sun Signs
6. Taj Mahal

Each template is designed on one of the above themes and has 12 personalised stamps perferated on it. One can get their personalised stamps on their favourite photograph on all of the themes mentioned above. So come to the “My Stamp” counter at the INDIPEX 2011 with your photograph, or have one clicked there and walk out with your very own stamp. All for only Rs. 150 per sheet.

Read  highlights of INDIPEX 2011

: Sreejesh krishnan, Trivandrum