With so many Year of the Ox stamps to pick from, it’s hard to choose one favourite. But Vietnam comes close for me. Their contribution to 2021’s Year of the Ox issues is so cheerful and fun, it’s impossible to resist them. 

Year of the ox

Happy New Year

Artist Nguyen Quang Vinh’s 2 stamp set was issued in Dec 12, 2020 and will be remain available until June 30, 2022. If you have any information on the artist please drop me a line. I’d love to learn more.

The background shows cherry blossoms, apricot flowers, and trays of fruits offered to the family with the desire for a warm, happy, unionized, talented year to all houses.

Vietnam Post Office, with apologies for my google translation 

Easter Egg in the stamp?

According to Vietnamnet.vn the yellow image represents a father buffalo, and the pink one represents mother and child. If you pair mother and father’s tails, you get a heart shape. I tested this and, yes, it does, much to my delight. Further reading taught me the father ox is carrying dong leaves which are used to wrap glutinous rice cakes. The bowls of fruit represent offerings to ancestors. 

Vietnam’s Lunar New Year souvenir sheet

I’m currently working on a list of all the Year of the Ox stamps from around the world. I’m about 2/3 the way through and hope to have it up by Friday. I’ll post a link here when I’ve completed it. Sign up for my newsletter and receive notification of updates directly to your inbox. Use the handy signup box on the right sidebar. Don’t forget, you can buy me a coffee using the coffee cup to the lower left & keep me caffeinated. In the meantime, compare Vietnam’s Year of the Ox stamps to Canada’s: 

It’s a wrap! Canada’s 2021 Lunar New Year Stamps