Chinese New Year
Several nations issue postage stamps to mark the Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year). Typically appearing in January and February, issuing countries have included China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and France.
The stamps usually depict the animal sign of that year, consisting of the sequence: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. The designs may be part of a set, or individually designed; for instance, since 1992 the US has been issuing Chinese New Year stamps using a common design type based on colored paper cutouts of the animals. In succeeding years, the U.S. Postal Service issued additional stamps until all twelve animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar were represented. The calligraphic characters on these stamps may be translated into English as "Happy New Year".
Hong Kong was one of the first countries to issue a commemorative stamp for the lunar new year since the 1960s (1967), but other countries have followed:
- Republic of China (Taiwan) - since 1965
- People's Republic of China - since 1980
- Singapore - Zodiac series since 1996, Festival series on-off since 1971, biannually since 2000
- United States - since 1992
- Australia - since 1994
- Canada - since 1997
- Macau - since 1984
- France - since 2005
- Ireland - since 1994
Most of these stamps consist of first day covers, commemorative sheets and multiple country brochures.
Read more about this topic: Holiday Stamp
Famous quotes containing the words chinese and/or year:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)