Bright pink peach blossoms highlight the 2019 Year of the Boar stamp created by USPS. It is the 12th and final stamp in the U.S. Postal Service’s Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The stamp features several bright pink peach blossoms on a branch. Artist Kam Mak created this original painting and stamp designer Ethel Kessler incorporated elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps to create continuity between the series. Let`s take a look at this interesting issue, as well as other Lunar New Year stamps.
The Year of the Boar begins Feb. 5, 2019, and ends on Jan. 24, 2020. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in China and Tet in Vietnam, is the most important holiday of the year for many Asian communities. In the United States this special occasion is marked in various ways, including parades featuring enormous and vibrantly painted papier-mâché dragons, parties and other special events. Vendors at outdoor markets sell flowers, toys, food and other items. Musicians play drums to celebrate a time of renewed hope for the future.
As mentioned above, the stamp has some elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, namely Clarence Lee’s intricate cut-paper design of a boar and the Chinese character for “boar” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun. The peach blossoms that appeared on stamps usually marks the beginning of the new year, as peach trees typically bloom in early February. The striking pink blossoms mark the beginning of spring in Chinese culture.
