I have been impressed by the Royal Mail’s care and assiduousness in preparing the materials that accompany their stamps, and am encouraged that they are so open to having a theologian write from a position of faith about the meaning of Christmas.
Professor Ben Quash, Professor of Christianity and the Arts
04 November 2025
Professor Ben Quash advises on Royal Mail's new Christmas stamp designs
Royal Mail has revealed its Christmas stamps for this year, featuring scenes of the Nativity.
Royal Mail asked Professor Ben Quash, Department of Theology & Religious Studies to be its expert advisor in the preparation of their special-edition stamp designs for Christmas.
After the initial designs had been created, Professor Quash gave feedback and advice on them to Royal Mail. He told LBC he was impressed by the "strong, simple and vibrant" designs.
Experts are also asked to write a short essay to appear on the collectible products that accompany these designs.
In 2017, Professor Quash gave his expertise on a set of Christmas stamps that used famous paintings of the Virgin and Child in British art collections, and wrote a chapter about it for the 2017 Royal Mail Yearbook.
Professor Quash writing features in the Royal Mail's ‘presentation pack’, with the stamps inside and appears on the ‘filler card’, which goes inside the First Day Cover. The First Day Cover marks the first day of issue of a new set of stamps and is highly popular with collectors. The stamps are affixed to a specially designed envelope, then cancelled with a special cancellation, also called a 'handstamp', available only on this day.
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Professor of Christianity and the Arts