SNAKE

In traditional Chinese culture, the snake is an ancient totem symbol, full of mystery and rich symbolism. In Chinese traditional myths and legends, the snake was imbued with the image of beauty and kind character. In mythology, Nuwa and Fuxi, the ancestors of the Chinese people, were first depicted as having human heads in snake bodies. As one of the most celebrated goddesses in Chinese mythological history, Nuwa's main achievements were in the creation of human and the mending of the heavens. she was given the body of a snake, perhaps due to the snake's tenacity and fertility, a symbol of eternal life. Snake is the sixth in the Chinese zodiac and its corresponding earthly branch is “Si”.

In 2025, China Post, CTT Macao and Hongkong Post jointly issued the “Yi-Si Year” presentation pack, which includes a souvenir sheet with three blocks of four stamps and a commemorative cover jointly issued by three postal administration, aiming to sheds light on the diversified expressions of traditional Chinese zodiac culture, demonstrating the interconnected and integrated cultural root of the Chinese people.

The Snake Year stamps issued by China Post were designed by Pan Hou and Zhang Wang, drawing inspiration from Dunhuang murals and traditional folk customs, skillfully blends the image of the snake with auspicious connotation, reflecting the unique charm of China’s zodiac culture and conveying people’s good wishes for a blessed year and a healthy life in a prosperous era. The first stamp of the set of two, “The Snake Brings Harvest and Abundance”, depicts a golden coiling snake, a dynamic imagery in traditional Chinese culture, holding a wheat ear that symbolizes “a good harvest and an affluent life”. The second stamp, “Happiness Carries Good Wishes”, depicts the cursive-script Chinese character “happiness” formed by three snakes, that is simple, free and smooth.

The fourth cycle of Snake Year stamps issued by CTT Macao includes a set of four stamps, souvenir sheet, booklet and maximum postcards, etc.. The conceptual design of designer Victor Hugo Marreiro is based on the four seasons. The four stamps vividly depict different postures of snakes in the style of traditional Chinese ink painting. The patterns on the bodies of the snakes are integrated with traditional Chinese decorative motifs. Combining the representative colours and elements of spring, summer, fall and winter, the stamps capture the changing, lively and joyful images of snakes with modern design techniques. The souvenir sheet uses red, a symbol of joy and propitiousness in traditional Chinese culture, as its background, with patterns of auspicious clouds, copper coins and the Sun. The spiritual snake either meanders or twists and turns, welcoming spring and celebrating Chinese New Year.

The fifth cycle of stamps for the year of the Snake issued by Hongkong Post is also a set of four stamps, featuring various depictions of the Snake adorned with traditional Lunar New Year elements. The background is enhanced with festive colours and light gold plants, creating an atmosphere of celebration for the Year of the Snake.

Issued in 1989 by the China National Philatelic Corporation, the “Ji-Si Year ” First Day Cover was designed by Lu Shengzhong. The design on the cover is based on the folk tales of the “Nuwa Mends the Sky”, and an eight-cent stamp was cancelled by a snake-shaped commemorative mark, depicting a snake coiled in a circle with peonies, lotus, chrysanthemums and plum blossoms, and spitting out auspicious lingzhi grass from its mouth. The second cycle of Zodiac Stamps was authored by Hu Zhenyuan, while the first day cover and postmark were both designed by Liu Yusu. The full set of “Xin-Si Year” stamps is affixed to the first day cover, one of them featuring a small flower snake in the form of a traditional paper cutout, while the other stamp, bearing the character “Snake”, is set against the backdrop of an auspicious paper-cut of “Two Snakes Cresting the Sun”. The third cycle of “ Gui-Si Year” stamps issued in 2013, created by designer Wu Guanying, was inspired by the story in the Eastern Jin Dynasty's “Sou Shen Ji” of a snake carrying a pearl in return for a favour. The bright yellow miniature sheet contains five stamps of the same design. The red snake is decorated with Spring peaches, Summer lotus, Autumn chrysanthemums and Winter plums, while the snake carries a golden-coloured pearl in its mouth, with two auspicious clouds blossoming at the end of the snake's tail.

CTT Macao issued its first cycle of Zodiac Stamps between 1984 and 1996, and the snake stamps affixed to the first day covers were issued in 1989. Starting 2013, CTT Macao decided to issue the series of Zodiac Label Stamps, designed by Anita Fung. The official denominations of the four Snake postal labels of the first cycle were $1.50, $2.00, $3.00 and $3.50 respectively. Hongkong's 2013 Year of the Snake Silk souvenir sheet, designed by Kan Tai-keung, features distinct and elegant silk that brings the snake to life, ushering in the auspicious Year of the Snake in the Year of the Snake.

“Nuwa Created Humans” is one of stamps of the “Ancient Chinese Myths” issued by Chinese Post in 1987. Nuwa, with the human-headed, snake-bodied was the first goddess of the ancient myths to be introduced in all her maternal glory. In the myth, the god of water, Gong Gong, fought against the god of fire, Zhu Rong, and, in defeat, became so angry that he hit his head against Mount Buzhou, collapsing the sky and pouring its waters into the human world. Nuwa, incapable of witnessing mankind suffer, made five-coloured stones to patch up the sky, so that mankind could live in peace and prosperity. Also in 2003, Christmas Island Post issued a souvenir sheet containing two stamps, again telling the story in ancient mythology that Nuwa create both animals and people in seven days to alleviate her loneliness.

In 2001 and 2011, China Post and CTT Macao issued the “Legend of the White Snake” stamps designed by Dai Dunbang and Poon Kam Ling, respectively. The Legend of the White Snake originated in the Tang and Five Dynasties, and took shape in the Southern Song Dynasty. By the Yuan Dynasty, it had been compiled into musical comedy and scripts for story-telling. In the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong compiled “Eternal Prisoner under the Leifeng Pagoda”, which is the earliest and more complete text of the legend. The phenomenon of “multiple sources” often occurs in folklore, and the Legend of the White Snake is no exception. The Legend of the White Snake describes the tortuous love story between a white snake that shape-shifted into human form and a human being. The story includes the following episodes like, Lending an umbrella by the lake, The Robbery of the Elixir Herb, Flooding the Jinshan Mountain and Meet at the Broken Bridge. It expresses people's admiration and longing for the freedom of love between men and women, and their hatred of the irrational bondage by the feudal powers.

At the end of 2012, the Kingdom of Liechtenstein also issued stamps for the Year of the Snake. This time, the stamp issue continued in the style of the Year of the Dragon stamps, with a miniature sheet featuring a red background, the traditional Chinese paper-cut with hollow out elements, the use of laser-cutting technology, and elements from the traditional Chinese story of the Legend of the White Snake. At the end of 2024, the latest cycle of snake stamps made its grand debut. This time, designer Pan Hu had the amazing idea of combining two traditional Chinese cultural elements, the green snake and the eight-bamboo of mahjong. The snake is a sacred animal that symbolizes good luck, wealth, wisdom and longevity, while mahjong is a game of wealth that focuses on concentration, making this issue unexpectedly entertaining and rich in mathematics, strategy and cultural connotations.

At the end of 2012, Vietnam Post issued the Year of the Snake stamps designed by Tô Minh Trang and, as is customary, issued a set of two perforated and imperforated stamps, respectively. The stamps feature a plum blossom entwined with two snakes and two snakes entwined with a plum blossom at their backs. It is also the common for Korea Post to issue the “New Year’s Greeting Stamps” series at the end of each year, with each cycle of the Year of the Snake stamps featuring a different designer. The 2000 issue included a two-stamp souvenir sheet featuring a small, colourful snake in mid-rotation. The 2012 two-stamp souvenir sheet is shock full of winter colour. In addition to the cartoonish snake, the other of the two stamps features a child in traditional Korean dress playing feather shuttlecock in the snow. The 2004 two stamps issue follows the same style as the 2024’s, featuring animation and holographic foil stamping of the motifs.

In 2001, Canada Post issued a curved souvenir sheet containing one stamp. Since jade is considered a highly valuable object in traditional Chinese culture, the designer carefully selected a jade carving and used its colour as the background. The half-curved and twisted shape of the snake resembles an ancient jade huang ornament, and the bronze-coloured border creates an antique look. The same design is used for stamps of the same shape, but in different colours. New Zealand Post's 2013 Year of the Snake souvenir sheet features four stamps against a backdrop of golden wave patterns, including the character “snake” written by Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty, a paper-cut snake with a New Zealand silver fern on its body, a snake lantern, and a cable car over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. In 2013, Gibraltar Post issued a set of two Chinese Zodiac Stamps featuring a black striped red snake on an orange background with foil stamping and embossing to emphasise the eyes, nose and curly body.

At the end of 2012, Japan Post issued the Year of the Snake stamp sheet “Eto Calligraphy”, including ten stamps full of flavor of ancient Chinese culture with the Chinese characters “Snake”, “Gui-Si” and “Si” in written by renowned calligraphers in different scripts. At the end of 2024, Japan Post issued two sets of stamps to celebrate the Year of the Snake, one set with two semi-postal and lottery stamps designed by Ayumi Yoshikawa, titled “Snake, Gourd and Plum Blossom” and “Snake, Treasure Bag and plum blossoms”. The set of two regular stamps features illustrations from Kawasaki Jusen's folk toys series.

In 2001, the Isle of Man issued an unusual composition for a Year of the Snake souvenir sheet featuring St. Patrick and the snake. In both Jewish and Christian traditions, Satan took the form of a snake and tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This act caused Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden. Legend has it that St. Patrick used to fast and meditate on a mountain top on the coast of Ireland. One day, attacked by a snake, the saint waved his scepter and drove the snake into the sea. To commemorate St. Patrick, on March 17th each year people celebrate Irish customs and culture with a large festival and parade, music and dance, wine and food, and wear green clothing. In addition, another souvenir sheet issued in 2013, features a purple background and six stamps with a Chinese-inspired design.

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