Four new T-shirt-shaped stamps featuring artwork by Indigenous artists have been issued by Canada Post for the 2026 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The unusual die-cut designs take their inspiration directly from the orange shirts worn each Sept. 30 for Orange Shirt Day. Three of the stamps feature illustrations reflecting the experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, while the fourth is dedicated to Mother Earth and the connection between past, present and future generations.
The stamps were illustrated by Indigenous artists Emily Kewageshig, Jason Sikoak and Christi Belcourt, with the overall issue designed by Blair Thomson of Believe in. Lowe-Martin printed the stamps.
ORANGE SHIRTS SHAPE ISSUE
The choice of an orange T-shirt as the physical shape of each stamp connects the issue directly with a movement that began in British Columbia in 2013.
Orange Shirt Day grew from the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwépemc (Shuswap) woman from the Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation.
When Webstad was six years old, she arrived for her first day at residential school wearing a new orange shirt purchased by her grandmother. The shirt was taken from her, and her experience eventually became a symbol of the loss of identity, culture and dignity experienced by Indigenous children forced into the residential school system.
Orange Shirt Day is now observed annually on Sept. 30, when people across Canada wear orange shirts to recognize residential school Survivors and honour the children who never returned home. Since 2021, Sept. 30 has also been recognized federally as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The designs for this year’s stamps were developed with guidance from the Survivors Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. The Survivors Circle selected orange shirts as the central element of the 2026 issue.
STUDENTS REACH MILESTONE
The Official First Day Cover for Canada Post’s 2026 Orange Shirt Day issue features all four T-shirt-shaped stamps. The Williams Lake, B.C., cancellation incorporates an eagle motif symbolizing strength and spiritual guidance.
The stamps also recognize a milestone reached this year in British Columbia, where students have, for the first time, graduated from high school after participating in Orange Shirt Day every year since kindergarten.
Other provinces and territories are expected to reach the same milestone in coming years as Orange Shirt Day continues to be observed in schools across Canada.
The issue is part of Canada Post’s annual Truth and Reconciliation stamp series, developed in partnership with the Survivors Circle to increase awareness of residential schools and their continuing impact on Indigenous Peoples.
BOOKLET AND OFDC
The four Permanent domestic-rate stamps are available in booklets of eight.
An Official First Day Cover (OFDC) was also produced. Its cancellation site is Williams Lake, B.C., where Orange Shirt Day began and where a school curriculum examining the residential school experience was piloted.
The cancellation features an eagle motif, representing strength and spiritual guidance.
The stamps and OFDC were issued Sept. 29.