Christmas

The day is a sacred religious holiday as well as a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon, with both Christians and non- Christians alike.

For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature.

Christmas is also celebrated on postage stamps. Each year postal authorities worldwide launch new Christmas-themed stamps for use during the festive season. The stamps serve both for postage as well as to help spread Christmas cheer. It seems that Canada was the first country to introduce Christmas on a stamp , by the release of a two-cent issue in 1898, while many countries followed suit in subsequent years.

Malta's first Christmas stamp was issued in November 1964 by way of a set depicting the Holy Family in the company of shepherds set in a traditional crib. This first issue was designed by the renowned Maltese artist Emvin Cremona and was a milestone in the history of Maltese philately as it set a precedent for subsequent issues. Following the success of this release, Emvin Cremona designed a Christmas stamp issue each year until his last one in 1979.

After Cremona, the Malta postal authorities continued celebrating the religious aspect of Christmas by publishing stamps sets reproduced from paintings by renowned artists found in different churches and museums. The Nativity, Madonna and Child and the traditional procession of Baby Jesus were the most popular subjects and inspired many Maltese Christmas stamp issues over the years.

This year's Christmas set is an artist's creative impression of the birth of Jesus.