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A Celebration in Stamps: The Twelve Days of Christmas across Guernsey and Alderney
For many, Christmas is a season of traditions: gathering with loved ones, exchanging gifts, and sending greetings around the globe. Among these customs, one that continues to delight collectors is the release of festive stamps. Each year, Guernsey Post captures the spirit of the season through a wealth of different designs - and 2025 is no exception.
This year’s Christmas stamps feature one of the most familiar festive stories: The Twelve Days of Christmas. The carol, with its playful rhythm and cumulative verses, has long been a seasonal favourite. Its imagery - from partridges and turtle doves to pipers and drummers – creates a vivid picture of celebration, generosity, and joy. While its exact origins remain a matter of debate, what is certain is that it has endured for centuries, passed down in song and story at Christmas gatherings around the world.
Guernsey and Alderney have brought this much-loved carol to life through a collaborative series of stamps. Alderney’s issue illustrates the opening verses, from the partridge in a pear tree to six geese a-laying, while Guernsey completes the sequence with the later verses, from seven swans a-swimming to twelve drummers drumming. Together, the two sets form a visual narrative of the entire song and with it, an opportunity for collectors to enjoy a complete interpretation of a Christmas classic.
Beyond their role in seasonal correspondence, Christmas stamps have a knack for brightening envelopes and parcels as they make their way around the world; they often become treasured keepsakes in their own right. Many collectors can trace their own philatelic journey back to Christmas stamps received in childhood, when the designs added extra magic to letters from grandparents, godparents, or friends abroad.
Whether sent across the globe on a Christmas card or carefully placed in an album, The Twelve Days of Christmas collection not only celebrates the joy of the season but also highlights the enduring power of stamps to tell stories and capture cultural heritage, at a time of year when connection matters most.
