Royal Mail has unveiled its Christmas stamps for this year, featuring scenes from the Nativity, the BBC reports.

The set of five stamps was designed by graphic designer Gareth Howat and illustrated by Rebecca Sutherland, the BBC says.

The stamps show Mary and Joseph travelling, the baby Jesus, an angel, the shepherds and the Three Wise Men, the BBC reports.

This year's collection marks the 60th anniversary of the first Christmas special stamps, the BBC reports. Those were issued on December 1, 1966, the Swindon Advertiser reports.

The first set came out after a children's art competition announced in May 1966 by Tony Benn, who was then postmaster general, the Swindon Advertiser says.

"It's an absolute honour to have had the opportunity to illustrate Royal Mail's Christmas stamps," Sutherland said, according to the Swindon Advertiser.

She said she had collected stamps as a child. "I used to collect them from envelopes, carefully take them off the paper, and arrange them into sets, so being asked to create a set myself feels incredibly special," she said, the Swindon Advertiser reports.

Christmas stamps in recent years have shown snowy scenes of UK cathedrals or lyrics from famous carols, the BBC reports. The 2025 set also showed scenes from the Nativity, the BBC says.

"We hope this year's Christmas stamps will add an extra touch of festive magic to the millions of greetings sent to family and friends at home and around the world," said David Gold of Royal Mail, according to the BBC and the Swindon Advertiser.

In October, Royal Mail issued 10 stamps to mark 100 years of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, the Swindon Advertiser reports.