Stamp issued by Australian government to commemorate Tamil Heritage month? Find out the facts...

Tamil communities are spread across the world in significant numbers in many continents from Europe to Americas and Australia, apart from the bulk of the native speakers in India and Asia. As a result, at times we come across social media posts related to instances in which Tamil language and culture got recognized in some of these countries. However this fact check is on a misleading narration, given to a stamp issued in Australia related to “Tamil Heritage Month”

Social Media Posts

A Facebook user added a photo resembling a stamp issued on the 15^th of January, indicating that Australia had released a special stamp in honor of the Tamil Heritage Month. The full narration is given below.

“Folks, in light of Tamil Heritage Jan 2022 has been declared Tamil Heritage month across the world.I am Proud to be part of a rich cultureThank you Australia for releasing a stamp in honor of Tamil Heritage 2022”

Facebook | Archived

Some posts were added to Facebook in December.

Facebook | Archived

Fact Check

First, we searched about “Tamil Heritage Month” and found that it has been a concept celebrated by Tamils in some countries and cities. Some of these major countries/cities who declared or accepted the Tamil Heritage Months are Canada and London in the United Kingdom. The Canadian government declared January as Tamil Heritage Month in 2016. Meanwhile, the London Assembly also declared 2022 January as Tamil Heritage month. The related media reports can be reached from here and here. Archived | Archived.

Meanwhile, speaking to the Newschecker, an Australian diplomat had confirmed that the Australian government had not declared January as the Tamil Heritage Month in Australia thus far. The report can be read from here.Archived.

Then we inspected the Australia Post official website and we did not come across a stamp as shown in the social media posts issued in the year 2022 or before.

We contacted the Australia Post to confirm whether a stamp was issued by them in recognition of the “Tamil Heritage Month”. A representative of the Australia Post confirmed that the Australian Philatelic Bureau had not issued such a stamp related with the images of viral social media claims.

She elaborated further as “I can confirm that the stamp being circulated via social media originates from a private order for MyStamps. MyStamps are a print-to-order service allowing individuals and businesses to print customized stamps using images uploaded via our online shop. Terms & conditions apply, including proof of copyright ownership (or permission from the copyright holder) for all images supplied.”

Australian Postal Service representative went on to add that “These specific stamps are not available for purchase from any Australia Post office or the online shop, and are not being circulated for general release. They definitely do not constitute a stamp release.”

“The Australian Philatelic Bureau issues stamps within the confines of the Australian Stamp Issue Program and the Australian Stamp Issue Policy. Under the policy, “All subjects must be directly related to Australia, be of outstanding national or international interest and/or significance, and enjoy popular acclaim.” she explained further.

Below is a screengrab from Mystamps service, listed in the Australia Post website, where out of the 9 available shapes, the first shape which had been used to create the custom order related to “Tamil Heritage Month”

Mystamps | Archived

These misleading claims were viral among Tamil social media users in Sri Lanka specifically and our Factcrescendo Tamil team’s fact check can be reached here

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, we found out that the Australia Post had not released a specific stamp in January 2022 or any time before related with the “Tamil Heritage Month” which is celebrated by Tamil communities in certain countries and regions. The image of the stamp which went viral on social media had been created as a private order using an available template at Mystamps, a customized print-to-order service offered by Australia Post.