Church and religions. |
Click here for other design errors |
Move the cursor over the small pictures for an enlarged view
Female christmas child. Cover of an airmail letter. Take a discreet look at the baby, it is a GIRL ! (UNITED KINGDOM - ) | |
   | |
MEMORIAN instead of MEMORIAM Wrong : IN MEMORIAN - Correct : IN MEMORIAM (BRAZIL - 1964) | |
  | |
Poor dressed Pope ! At least three errors on this stamp : the shape of the tiara is completely different from the one Pope John XXIII wore, a Pope only wears his tiara with church clothes and .. .look at the cross on the top : the tiara has to be turned by 90 degrees! (MALI - ) | |
  | |
Wrong person This is not S. Dominic, but a Spanish monk who lived 2 centuries later. (VATICAN - 1971) | |
 | |
Anacronism Bishop of the 13th century, wearing modern churchclothes. (ANDORRA - 1976) | |
 | |
Wrong painting This painting of Dürer is known as The Lamentation for the Dead Christ. On this sheet it is surprisingly called Christ Weeping for His People. (COOK ISLANDS - 1973) | |
 | |
Language error Wrong : PAPA PAULUS - Correct : POPE PAULUS (JORDAN - 1964) | |
  | |
Not canonised. This bishop was never canonised, ther is thus no reason why he his featured with an halo. (ICELAND - 1950) | |
 | |
Mirrored and corrected. Correct and mirrored Bodhisattva statue (INDIA - 1949) | |
  | |
Female angel. Angels are supposed to be sexless, but this Mexican angel obviously is equipped with a nice breast. (MEXICO - 1958) | |
  | |
Wrong person. This stamp was supposed to picture Father SERRA. Unfortunately, a picture of one of his colleagues, Father FALOU, was shown. (MEXICO - 1968) | |
 | |
Inverted portrait One of those two stamps has tot be a mirror representation of a portrait of Pope Pius XII (VATICAN - 1940) | |
  | |
Wrong date The departure of Cardinal Sarto from Venice to a Conclave in Rome occured on the 26th of July, not on the 27th of June (XXVII-VI) (VATICAN - 1960) | |
  | |
With and without tower Tower was placed on the wrong side. The same stamp was re-issued, without tower. (SWITZERLAND - 1960) | |
  | |
Inverted towers The towers of this catheral are shown inverted (SWITZERLAND - 1960) | |
    | |
Wrong representation The carol While Shepheards watched their flocks by night, states that the watching shepheards were all seated on the ground. On the stamp however, two are standing, one is kneeling, none is seated (SAINT VINCENT - 1977) | |
  | |
Other town The 2 statues at the left and right side of the stamp do not belong to the cathedral of Amiens, but to the cathedral of Chartres. (SAN MARINO - 1967) | |
 | |
Religious anachronism The death of Mary´s 'still to be born' son is already commemorated by the cross above her bed. (BRAZIL - 1970) | |
  | |
Controversial Buddha Miniature of the Buddha of Bamian. A similar stamp issued in 1951 featuring the real statue was withdrawn due to compaints of the Moslim majority in the region. (AFGHANISTAN - 1965) | |
  | |
Unfortunate illustration The choice of the illustration for this Christmas airmail letter is a little bit unfortunate : it is a Doomsday Angel from Dürer's woodcut 'The whore of Babylon' (AUSTRALIA - 1974) | |
    | |
Wrong region Girl from Vorarlberg holding an adorn with the initials IHS (Iesus Hominum Salvator), which are not used in that region. The designer of the stamp admitted that he had mixed up some sketches he once made in Liechtenstein where this adorn is typical. (AUSTRIA - 1948) | |
  | |
Translation The stamps with a local religious symbol was re-issued with the explanation in native language (GHANA - 1959) | |
    | |
Translation The stamps with a local religious symbol was re-issued with the explanation in native language (GHANA - 1959) | |
    | |
Missing ring The pastoral ring is missing on a finger of the right hand. (BELGIUM - 1965) | |
    | |
Wrong tower The tower shown on this stamp was nevere built. (BELGIUM - 1948) | |
  | |
Transparent moon As a symbol, a star in a moon crescent is acceptable. But not to illustrate a landscape, as this star lies behind the non illuminated surface of the moon. (AZERBAIDJAN - 1919) | |
  | |
Missing letter Wrong : JUBILEUM - Correct : JUBILAEUM. See picture. (ITALY - 1999) | |
    | |
Missing crown Stamp showing the cross and other symbols of the Cruxifiction, but omits the highly significant Crown of Thorns. (GERMANY - 1960) | |
  | |
Too big The franciscan monks have a very small round tonsure, not a bald head like showed on the stamp. (ITALY - 1926) | |
  | |
Wrong title Fra Angelico was never declared saint. The legend Beato thus is not correct. (ITALY - 1955) | |
  | |
Unnecessary snake Shipwreck of St. Paul adapted from a picture by Gustav Doré; with a snake scrambling ashore. In the Bible however, the snake does not appear until some time later. Corrected on a later issue. (MALTA - 1899) | |
  | |
Strange Is this a flying nun ? (MONACO - 2012) | |
 | |
From three to two El Greco's Holy Trinity has been reduced to a duo, as the dove, representing the Holy Ghost was omitted on the stamp. (SPAIN - 1961) | |
  | |
Anaschronism At the time the Christ was born, mosques with their minaret, who are symbols of the Islam, could not be a part of the skyline of Bethleem. (SOLOMON ISLANDS - 1975) | |
  | |
Discutable When this first Christmas stamp was issued, some people argued that this was against the constitutional separation between Church and State. (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 1962) | |
 | |
Upgrade The Pope did not look happy enough on a first stamp, so it was issued again, with an 'upgrade' around the head of Mary's statue. (CHILE - 1987) | |
    | |
Inversion Inverted representation on the stamp, comparing to the original portrait. (SPAIN - 1955) | |
  | |
Wrong star Various Turkish stamps were overprinted with a six-pointed Christian star instead of the five-pointed islam star. This was corrected in later overprints. (TURKEY - 1915) | |
    | |
Wrong name The Bible scenery with the angel telling Maria that she will become pregnant is the Annunciation, not the Visitation. (DAHOMEY - 1968) | |
  | |
Wrong birthdate The Belgian Cardinal Mercier was born in 1851, not in 1856 (BELGIUM - 1976) | |
  | |
Anachronism A minaret tower, more than five centuries before the islam religion appeared. (GHANA - 1974) | |
  | |
Wrong scenery This painting shows the Adoration of the Shepards, not of the Magi. (AITUTAKI - 1975) | |
  | |
Not correct according to the Bible According to the Bible, Jesus' parents took him to Egypt immediately after his birth. On this stamp they are travelling with a six years old boy. (BRAZIL - 1970) | |
  | |
Wrong star According to the Bible, the star was leading the three Kings to Bethleem, but not leading the holy family on their way to Egypt. (UNITED KINGDOM - ) | |
 | |
Not a saint ! Judas belonged to the 12 disciples of Jesus, but was of course not a saint. (CHAD - 1969) | |
    | |
Not a member Sheet with the 12 disciples of Jesus. Paul joined later, and thus was not one of the twelve. (CHAD - 1969) | |
   | |
Mixed up A. Dürer's paintings : The Four Apostles. Paul's head is featured with the caption Mark, Mark's head with the caption Paul. (SOLOMON ISLANDS - 1978) | |
  | |
Western Pope ? Really strange to see Pope John Paul II on a sheet celebrating the Western stars of Hollywood. (GUINEA - 1998) | |
   | |
Mirror image Mirrored featuring of this church (FRANCE - 1995) | |
   | |
Wrong cathedral This stamp features the cathedral of Burgos instead of Léon (Spain - 2018) | |
    | |