USPS unveils stamp for the Year of the Snake

BOSTON — The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its Lunar New Year: Year of the Snake stamp Tuesday, according to an announcement from the USPS. The Postal Service printed 21 million stamps that are now on sale at post offices and usps.com. 

The Lunar New Year 

The Lunar New Year holiday is a celebration of new beginnings that falls on the second new moon of the Chinese lunar calendar following the winter solstice, according to the announcement. On Jan. 29, millions around the world will hold parades and host parties, decorate with red and gold lanterns, set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits, and invite family and friends to share traditional foods to welcome the new year. This date also marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake, the sixth animal on the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Snake ends Feb. 16, 2026. 

The holiday and the weeks of celebration that surround it mark the beginning of the traditional planting season in Southeast Asia, but modern Lunar New Year festivities take place all over the world for people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Mongolian, Malaysian and Singaporean heritage, among others, according to the announcement. Known as Tet in Vietnam, Seollal in Korea and the Spring Festival in China and elsewhere, Lunar New Year historically marks the arrival of spring. Representing hope and promise, the colors red and gold appear everywhere during this auspicious time of year. 

Each year in the Chinese lunar calendar is associated with one of 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac, each with its own characteristic traits, the USPS wrote. Those born in the Year of the Snake are said to be quiet, wise and deep-thinking, making them proficient musicians, philosophers, writers and teachers. 

The stamp design 

Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, worked on the Lunar New Year series of stamps with artist Camille Chew, according to the announcement. Calling to mind the elaborately decorated masks used in the dragon or lion dances often performed during Lunar New Year parades, Chew’s three-dimensional pieces are a contemporary take on the long tradition of paper-cut folk-art crafts created during this auspicious time of year, it said.

Using greens and blues as the predominant colors, the snake mask incorporates elements of symbolic meaning. Blue accents represent the wood element in Chinese culture, a choice befitting the Year of the Snake. Paper flowers for spring are adorned with gold leaves and orange blooms. Decorative purple baubles on blue strings hang from the mask. 

Chew constructed the three-dimensional snake mask out of hand-printed paper, then cut, scored and folded it into shape. She then embellished the mask with acrylic paint and other paper elements, such as flowers and tassels, and covered the back of the mask in a layer of papier-mâché. Sally Andersen-Bruce then photographed the mask on a white background for this series. 

The Lunar New Year stamps are issued in panes of 20. As Forever stamps, they will always be equal in value to the current first-class mail 1-ounce price, the USPS wrote. 

“Our Lunar New Year stamp series is extremely popular and we are very proud of how it highlights and celebrates America’s great diversity,” Luke Grossmann, chief financial officer and executive vice president of the U.S. Postal Service, wrote in the announcement. “As you use these vibrant stamps to mail your letters and packages, it is our wish that the “Year of the Snake” brings each of you good health, great joy and much prosperity.”