Royal Mail's Christmas Stamps revealed

Royal Mail have revealed the five designs seen across their seven religious Christmas Stamps which explore the theme of Madonna and Child.

The religious-themed stamps, issued on 5 November, 2013, show the following designs across seven values:

1st Class - Virgin and Child with the young St John the Baptist
1st Class Large - Virgin and Child with the young St John the Baptist
2nd Class - Madonna and Child
2nd Class Large - Madonna and Child
88p - Praying to the Virgin for an End to the Plague
£1.28p - La Vierge au Lys
£1.88p - Theotokos, Mother of God











A spokesperson for Royal Mail said:

'We wished to explore Madonna and Child imagery across the widest breadth of timescales and artistic interpretations. We would not restrict ourselves to representations from British sources and would look wider. In addition we also wished for one of the designs to be reflective of ethnic diversity in the UK. As such, we have commissioned a new Madonna and Child image for the stamps by Fadi Mikhail.'

Royal Mail will also be issuing a secular pair of stamps, featuring the winning entries in a 'design-a-stamp' competition, with the designs set to be revealed at the end of October.

Related products include:

• Presentation pack
• First Day Cover
• Miniature Sheet - of all seven stamps
• First Day Cover with mini-sheet
• Generic sheet
• Stampcards
• 1st Class Stamp Book
• 2nd Class Stamp Book
• Smilers











Find out more about the stamps in the December issue of Stamp & Coin Mart, on sale from 8 November.