Who chose the Christmas stamps?

As long as I don't have to lick them.
They're peel-off now 😁

So in answer to "Who chose the cathedrals...

In a process that can take up to five years, the design of a new stamp involves these stages:

Royal Mail researchers decide on the subject matter
Royal Mail invites proposals from Royal Mail designers for new stamp designs based on the chosen subject matter
Designs are put before the Stamp Advisory Committee
‘Essays’ are produced, which are special proofs that reveal how the completed stamp will look
Each stamp is passed to the Queen for review
Once the stamp has royal approval, it can then be issued for sale

So the answer is "The Stamp Advisory Committee".


The role of the SAC is to provide advice to Royal Mail on the selection and development for all postage stamps. The categories of members specified for the original committee � and broadly in place today � were 'experts in design, representatives of the general public and philatelists'. The current committee consists of 5 professionals from the design community, two philatelists, two representatives from the world of business, a print specialist and a representative from the government department for Trade and Industry

Well said @Elegran. I'm not Scottish, Irish or Welsh but I do like to see their beautiful buildings, they are an important part of the UK and I see very little representation of them in general. I know there a lot of beautiful cathedrals in England, but there are also many in the other nations too, and there are only so many images we can have on stamps.

We are so familiar with London monuments whilst the rest of the UK is largely ignored. The rest of England is occasionally featured, but not often. London may be the capital of England, but I'm not from London and it doesn't mean that much to me (although I did go there once when I was a lot younger)

Well I'm very happy the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was chosen, my grandfather helped build it,before and after WW2. It may have been chosen as it's apparently the longest cathedral in the world!

Thanks for the definitive answer to who chooses the stamps NotSpaghetti.
Just a quick query, Each stamp is passed to the Queen for review how do they do that? Call upon the angels and seraphs? 😇

NotSpaghetti Good heavens!!

What if the late Queen had approved them but Charles said "I don't like those and it's my head that appears with them now!"

NannyC1

Well I'm very happy the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was chosen, my grandfather helped build it,before and after WW2. It may have been chosen as it's apparently the longest cathedral in the world!

That's a nice story * NannyCl*.
I think this one has one of the longest cathedral naves too. Any guesses?

Here

escaped

Thanks for the definitive answer to who chooses the stamps NotSpaghetti.
Just a quick query, Each stamp is passed to the Queen for review how do they do that? Call upon the angels and seraphs? 😇

Sorry.
It's a 2019 article!

If you scroll back to the BBC link (earlier) there is some info about each of the cathedrals BTW.

Oops sorry, I'm away, poor Internet not loading photo. Try again.

New Vaudeville Band

Correct!
Also Pride and Prejudice.

They just don't build them like that any more ☹

No. I think the newest one is Guildford. I don't like it.
I'm a bit of an expert in the field.

escaped

Not happy.
In a kingdom of great cathedrals, I'm not very impressed with the choice of Christmas stamps depicting various cathedrals.
Edinburgh - I'm not Scottish, I don't live there
Armagh - I'm not Irish, I don't live there either
Bangor - I'm not Welsh, I don't live there
Westminster - I'm a Londoner, but NOT Roman Catholic
Liverpool - I guess it will have to be that.

Where's Salisbury, Durham, Gloucester, Exeter, Canterbury, York?

Don't know where you live exactly but it appears to be England somewhere. You appear to be annoyed if not angry that the English Cathedral chosen is of a religion you do not share. I am Scots and Edinburgh (St Giles) is not of the religion I was brought up in. Am I annoyed? - no. It appears there is a Cathedral from Scotland, England, N Ireland and Wales in the stamps images and they aren't horrible Cathedrals. What are they supposed to do? Have a different stamp for each religion for each territory in case just the beautiful building is somehow offensive to an individual person because it isn't the religion they are in themselves? (This would be dozens of different stamps -are the Post Office staff supposed to ask the person their religion so as not to offer them stamps of Cathedrals not of their religion?) Where does it end - the Post Office has to produce stamps of a sea view or a forest because some people don't want to see religious Cathedrals? Good golly gosh.

escaped, you might feel better about the stamp showing a cathedral in Edinburgh if you realise that it isn't St Giles - Church of Scotland - but St Mary's - Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican communion!

NannyC1

Well I'm very happy the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was chosen, my grandfather helped build it,before and after WW2. It may have been chosen as it's apparently the longest cathedral in the world!

I'm glad that you are happy, NannyCI, and how interesting that your grandfather was involved in building it. It is indeed a striking building. It's a pity that they couldn't have the Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool too, as it is a very modern version of a cathedral and also striking in a different way.

Wheniwasyourage

*escaped*, you might feel better about the stamp showing a cathedral in Edinburgh if you realise that it isn't St Giles - Church of Scotland - but St Mary's - Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican communion!

So, is St. Giles no longer a cathedral? Something tells me it doesn't have a Bishop but a Minister, so can't be called a cathedral?
I'm happy to be corrected by anyone North of the border.

escaped

Wheniwasyourage

escaped, you might feel better about the stamp showing a cathedral in Edinburgh if you realise that it isn't St Giles - Church of Scotland - but St Mary's - Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican communion!

So, is St. Giles no longer a cathedral? Something tells me it doesn't have a Bishop but a Minister, so can't be called a cathedral?
I'm happy to be corrected by anyone North of the border.

If you want to get technical about it, in the strictest sense, no St Giles is not a cathedral, as the Church of Scotland does not have cathedrals, nor bishops. It's actually the High Kirk of Edinburgh, although it did have cathedral status at one point in its long and illustrious history and, like Glasgow and Dunblane Cathedrals, the name remains.

Both beautiful buildings.

I like those stamps. 🎄🙂

I love the idea of cathedrals representing the whole of the UK, but whoever chose them hasn't really picked the most alluring (and they have to be that, given the price!). I'm a Londoner but Westminster Cathedral? St. Paul's, surely, if London is to be represented.

What a lot of fuss over nothing!


Christmas stamps are never perfect in my opinion but goodness, I really don't understand the problem.

If someone who is bothered can contact the committee who made the decision with their problem, maybe they'd get somewhere?

I have found out
Who chose the Christmas stamps? which was the original question so any other issues I think we can't really answer here...

escaped

Not happy.
In a kingdom of great cathedrals, I'm not very impressed with the choice of Christmas stamps depicting various cathedrals.
Edinburgh - I'm not Scottish, I don't live there
Armagh - I'm not Irish, I don't live there either
Bangor - I'm not Welsh, I don't live there
Westminster - I'm a Londoner, but NOT Roman Catholic
Liverpool - I guess it will have to be that.

Where's Salisbury, Durham, Gloucester, Exeter, Canterbury, York?

So all the English cathedrals, then? Do the other countries of the UK not want to post the occasional letter or card at Christmas?