Isle of Man Post Office introduced a set of four stamps to celebrate one of the most popular annual festivals in the world. These four great items continue Isle of Man Post Office’s Lunar New Year series commemorating the start of the Chinese New Year. The stamps are the first triangular stamps to be issued by any of the British postal administrations, with the shape used to beautifully emphasize the features of the Ox.
When designing the issue, the designer Jay Cover paid much attention to the colour scheme, and the result is a prominent use of red which has positive and auspicious symbolic resonance in Chinese mythology along with the use of gold metallic ink as usual for Chinese celebration.
The stamps do not only feature the Ox, but they also depict two other animals that are strongly associated with the Ox: the Rooster is the most compatible sign with the Ox while, most famously, the Rat was carried by the Ox to the finish line of the mythological Emperor’s race of the zodiac signs race - only to hop off at the last moment and become the first sign in Chinese cosmology.
“For the illustrator creating a stamp design for your country is like being an athlete competing in the Olympic Games. Not only that but to do so in such an innovative way, by creating Britain’s first triangular stamp and to celebrate the Chinese New Year speaks to our Island’s global outlook, our openness our desire to embrace other cultures. It’s an absolute privilege as always to work with Isle of Man Post Office and I’m eternally grateful to them for giving me the opportunity” - artist Jay Cover commented.
Take a look at other Year of the Ox stamps.
