Christmas stamp 2000 from Faroe Island, featuring quote from John 1:14, designed by Anker Eli Petersen.
Main article: Christmas stamp
A number of nations have issued commemorative stamps at Christmastime. Postal customers will often use these stamps for the mailing of Christmas cards, and they are popular with philatelists. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas seals, and are valid for postage year-round. T hey usually go on sale some time between early October and early December, and are printed in considerable quantities.
In 1898 a Canadian stamp was issued to mark the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate. The stamp features a map of the globe and bears an inscription "XMAS 1898" at the bottom. In 1937, Austria issued two "Christmas greeting stamps" featuring a rose and the signs of the zodiac. In 1939, Brazil issued four semi-postal stamps with designs featuring the three kings and a star of Bethlehem, an angel and child, the Southern Cross and a child, and a mother and child.
The US Postal Service regularly issues both a religious-themed and a secular-themed stamp each year.
