Stamps Wiki:LNY2021/6

Australia

Christmas Island: Year of the Ox 2021

8 January 2021

Lunar New Year, also called the Spring Festival in China, is the most important of the traditional festivals celebrated by Asian cultures throughout the world. It is a time to complete unfinished business and settle debts to begin the New Year with a clean slate. Celebrations include congregating with relatives and friends for feasts and to exchange gifts of money wrapped in lucky red paper. Incense is burned to honour ancestors.

There are many legends relating to the animals of the zodiac and the reasons for their order, including the story of the Great Race. Long ago, the Jade Emperor of Heaven decided that animals would be designated as signs for the calendar. He held a race that included crossing a great river and decreed that the first 12 who arrived would determine the composition and order of the zodiac.

The illustration for this issue is by Chrissy Lau, an award-winning, British-born Chinese illustrator who is based in Sydney. The stamp designs feature the traditional lucky colours of gold and red and were inspired by ornaments and flowers that are said to invite wealth and good fortune.