The 2022 USPS holiday-season Forever stamp program offered five new themes: Holiday Elves, Virgin and Child, Snowy Beauty, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Together they covered secular Christmas, traditional Christmas art, winter flowers, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah without treating those distinct traditions as interchangeable.
2022 holiday Forever stamps at a glance
| Issue | Date | Designs | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday Elves | Sept. 15 | Four connected elf scenes | Booklet of 20 |
| Virgin and Child | Sept. 22 | One Renaissance painting | Booklet of 20 |
| Snowy Beauty | Oct. 11 | Ten winter flowers | Booklet of 20 |
| Kwanzaa | Oct. 13 | One design with two children and a kinara | Pane of 20 |
| Hanukkah | Oct. 20 | One abstract quilted hanukiah | Pane of 20 |
Holiday Elves
Don Clark’s four se-tenant designs form one continuous snowy workshop scene, with elves moving toys and treats along a winding conveyor. Antonio Alcalá served as art director. USPS issued the set in North Pole, Alaska, as a double-sided booklet of 20.
Virgin and Child
This traditional Christmas issue reproduces a 16th-century Florentine painting by the artist known as the Master of the Scandicci Lamentation, held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Greg Breeding designed the single-image double-sided booklet of 20.
Snowy Beauty
Ten Gregory Manchess paintings show flowers that bloom in or around cold weather: camellia, crocus, hellebore, winterberry, pansy, plum blossom, grape hyacinth, daffodil, ranunculus and winter aconite. Derry Noyes designed the booklet. This is a winter-season issue rather than a stamp for one religious observance.
Kwanzaa 2022
Erin Robinson’s artwork shows a girl and boy with a kinara and its seven candles. Antonio Alcalá designed the ninth USPS Kwanzaa issue. The scene centers family, community and the holiday’s seven principles.
Hanukkah 2022
Jeanette Kuvin Oren created a hand-dyed, appliquéd and quilted wall hanging with an abstract hanukiah, the nine-branched candelabrum used for Hanukkah. Ethel Kessler served as art director.
Do unused 2022 holiday stamps still work?
Yes. Each issue above is a domestic Forever stamp. Genuine unused copies still pay the current First-Class Mail one-ounce letter rate. Add postage for heavier, oversized or nonmachinable mailpieces and for services that cost more.
Official sources
The USPS 2022 dedication schedule places the five releases in date order. Individual USPS announcements document Holiday Elves and Virgin and Child, while the program release explains Snowy Beauty, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Issue facts checked September 2, 2026.