This year’s Christmas stamps are inspired by the fairytale-like holiday season

With Christmas still a few months away, today Omniva released new Christmas stamps inspired by the magic, miracles, and good deeds of the season.

‘Over the years, Estonian artists have created Christmas stamps with very different designs. This year’s holiday stamps are also soul-warming and beautiful,’ said Mart Mägi, Chairman of the Management Board of Omniva.

The author of the Christmas stamps, Estonian artist Catherine Zarip, has created charming characters that bring the fairytale Christmas season to life, helping to share the joy of Christmas with our loved ones and acquaintances and create a special and memorable festive spirit.

Zarip has illustrated dozens of children’s books, textbooks, and workbooks and designed hundreds of books. She has twice won prizes at the Tallinn Illustrations Triennial and ten times at the ‘5 Most Beautiful Estonian Children’s Books’ competition. Her art is fresh and elegant, yet restrained, detailed, and simple.

The stamp meant for letters sent within Estonia depicts a bird (price €1.30) and the stamp meant for international letters depicts a hare (price €2.60). In addition, there is a choice of a four-piece stamp with a hare and a reindeer for a total cost of €5.20. ‘A four-piece stamp is a convenient solution for those who have friends both in Estonia and abroad – you can add two stamps to the envelope when sending to a foreign country,’ Mägi suggested. ‘A letter within Estonia costs €1.30, exactly twice as cheap as a letter sent abroad.’

Despite the downward trend in mail volumes, sending Christmas cards continues to be popular. ‘During the holiday season, many people who don’t send a physical letter or card at any other time of the year also want to do so,’ said Mart Mägi.

‘It is also good to see that parents are teaching their children and grandchildren how to send a letter by postage stamp. Whether it is a letter to a best friend, a grandparent, a relative living abroad, or Santa Claus, putting good wishes on paper takes commitment and shows the recipient that they are cared for,’ she said. ‘Therefore, we recommend that you stock up on Christmas stamps and other necessities well in advance, so that all your Christmas wishes reach your loved ones in time for the peak card sending season,’ added Mägi.

The postage stamps and the first-day envelopes are sold in the Omniva e-shop and in post offices all over Estonia. The first day stamps will be used at the Toompea post office at 4 Lossi plats, Tallinn.

The Christmas stamps are printed by the printing house Vaba Maa, which printed 350,000 bird stamps with national tariff, 100,000 hare stamps with international tariff and 30,000 four-piece stamps with the hare and reindeer.

The first postage stamps printed in Estonia after regaining independence were issued by Christmas 1992. Since then, Christmas stamps have been published every year in Estonia.

Starting from April 2023, Omniva’s stamps are printed on paper that bears the label of responsible forestry of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC label certifies that the timber used to produce the paper comes from responsibly managed forests and that economic, environmental, and social aspects have been taken into account.