Canada Post Stamp Celebrates Hanukkah

This is Canada Post’s fifth Hanukkah stamp and one of several annual issues that mark events of importance to Canada’s culturally diverse population.

The 2022 Hannukah stamp features a vibrant, contemporary interpretation of the flames on a hanukkiyah (eight-branched menorah).  In a departure from recent Hanukkah issues from Canada Post, this stamp does not depict an actual menorah but instead features nine multicolored representations of flames. 

“A fresh take on an age‑old tradition, this new Hanukkah stamp conveys the joyful spirit of the Jewish Festival of Lights through a fun, flamboyant interpretation of the flames on a hanukkiyah (a special eight‑branched menorah),” Canada Post said in its Detailsmagazine for collectors.

Stamp designer Andrew Lewis told Canada Post that his goal was to put a new spin on a classical image.

The stylized flames create an energy that reflects the joy and excitement of the holiday. The significance of the blue background and central white shamash (helper candle) hold special importance in Judaism. This central white flame and the flames appearing to the right of it in the stamp design are shown on Canada Post’s first-day cover with the same blue background as the stamp. 

The Festival of Lights, as Hanukkah is also known, is both an opportunity for reflection and a celebration of triumph and tenacity. Hanukkah, which will take place this year from nightfall on December 18 to nightfall on December 26, celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C., following the successful revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire.

The lighting of the menorah during the eight-day celebration commemorates the miracle of a single day’s supply of oil lasting for eight days in the rededicated temple.