Year of the Horse

The hidden date for this stamp can be found near the horse's hoof.

The stamps in the souvenir sheets are embossed while the booklet stamps are not.

The embossing can be easily viewed on the back of the stamp.

The Year of the Horse gallops into view on January 31, 2014, and rides on until February 18, 2015. Those born under the sign have more than their fair share of ingenuity, a gift for communication and a taste for the spotlight – traits that also set the benchmark for this year’s stamp design.

Throughout the design process, Paprika’s Louis Gagnon and Daniel Robitaille were keenly aware of the need to balance innovation and tradition. They focused on attributes that would not only result in a timeless design for this issue but also continue the high level of artistry and refinement that has been the hallmark of the Lunar New Year series.

“The horse is shown in movement, its mane and tail touching from one stamp to the next,” says Gagnon. “The embossing also creates a multi-dimensional look and feel, adding to the physicality of the horse, while the red and gold – traditional Chinese colours – evoke the liveliness of fire.”

The creative team grounded the image of the wild horse with a silhouette design influenced by shadow puppets and traditional print-making. Acting as a base for the flashes of red and gold, a white background serves as a soothing and elegant canvas.

Gagnon continues, “We wanted to show the energy, strength and gracefulness of the animal itself – and we put a lot of effort into featuring those characteristics in the different denominations. We wanted each stamp to be powerful.”

“We’ve used foil in the past to accentuate parts of an image, but in this case, the entire horse on the international stamp was created from embossed foil,” explains Alain Leduc, Stamp Design Manager at Canada Post. “It is definitely something special.”

In keeping with its equine theme, the Official First Day Cover is cancelled at Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia.

Canada Post started issuing Chinese New Year stamps in 1997. Since then, Canada Post has been issuing a stamp for the Chinese New Year each year.

2009-2021

From 2009 to 2020, Canada Post issued an exquisite Chinese New Year stamp that was part of one of Canada Post’s most popular and longest-running series, which featured such elaborate techniques as gold and silver foiling and multi-level embossing.

In 2021, Canada Post issued a special tribute to the culmination of more than a decade of award-winning stamps. This retrospective brought together in a single issue all the stamps from their 2009-2020 Lunar New Year series.

The Lunar New Year cycle showcased all of the animals in the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Conceived well before the series was launched, this collection features 24 stamps based on the designs of all the previous domestic and international rate stamps in the last 12 years.

“Even before we began this series of Lunar New Year stamps, we envisioned bringing them all together for a grand finale,” explains Jim Phillips, Director of Stamp Services. “That required a plan from the very beginning. We developed standardized specifications that made the stamps consistent across issues in terms of dimension, format and palette, but still allowed sufficient creative freedom for each to be spectacular in its own right.”

Brought together by Paprika from Montréal, these eye-catching stamps feature the work of the many design firms and designers who contributed to the series over the years. The result is a unique collectible that is a fitting tribute to Lunar New Year celebrations everywhere.