| Added by |
 Bart Perdieus
|
| General Description : | Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America. Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas) or simply as De Sint (The Saint). He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sint Nicholas being a bishop and this geographical spread make clear that the feast in this form has a Roman Catholic background. |
| Face value | 0,49 Euro |
| Catalog code (Michel) | BE 3258 |
| Catalog code | Stamp Number BE 1982 Yvert et Tellier BE 3200 Stanley Gibbons BE 3782 Belgium BE 3210 WADP Numbering System - WNS BE061.03 Unificato BE 3204 |
| Stamp colour | multicolor |
| Stamp use | Commemorative stamp |
| Issue date | 25/10/2003 |
| Designer | Leo Fabri |
| Print technique | photogravure |
| Perforation | 11 1/2 |
| Height | 40.00 mm |
| Width | 27.00 mm |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
