New U.S. stamp rings in Year of the Snake Jan. 14 in Boston, Mass.

By Charles Snee

The sixth stamp in the United States Postal Service’s current Lunar New Year series celebrates the Year of the Snake and will be issued Jan. 14 in Boston, Mass. The Year of the Snake begins Jan. 29 of this year and comes to a close Feb. 16, 2026.

A free public first-day ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time at the Wang Theatre at the Boch Center, 270 Tremont St., in Boston.

Collectors desiring to attend the ceremony are asked to register online with the Postal Service. Each attendee may invite a maximum of nine guests, the USPS said.

Luke Grossmann, USPS chief financial officer and executive vice president, and Asian American Foundation chief financial officer Isabel Kim will serve as the dedicating officials.

“Those born in the Year of the Snake, the sixth sign in the Chinese zodiac, are said to be quiet, wise and deep-thinking, making them proficient musicians, philosophers, writers and teachers,” the Postal Service said in a Dec. 11 press release. “A snake year is sometimes referred to as a ‘little dragon year’ because it follows the dragon on the zodiac.”

According to China Highlights, a tour company: “In Chinese culture, the Snake is the most enigmatic animal among the 12 zodiac animals. People born in a year of the Snake are supposed to be the most intuitive. Snakes tend to act according to their own judgments while remaining private and reticent. They are determined to accomplish their goals and hate to fail.”

“Snakes represent the symbol of wisdom,” China Highlights said. “They are intelligent and wise. They are good at communication but say little. Snakes are usually regarded as great thinkers. Snakes are materialistic and love keeping up with the Joneses. They love to possess the best of everything but they have no patience for shopping.”

The 2020 Year of the Rat (Scott 5428), 2021 Year of the Ox (5556), 2022 Year of the Tiger (5662), 2023 Year of the Rabbit (5744) and 2024 Year of the Dragon (5829) stamps feature an ornate three-dimensional ceremonial mask by Camille Chew.

In a noticeable change this year, Chew’s design for the new nondenominated (73¢) Year of the Snake forever stamp is not a mask. However, like the previous five designs, her artwork for the new stamp is three-dimensional.

Her intricate artwork was photographed and then used for the vignette of the stamp designed by USPS art director Antonio Alcala.

Alcala shared some thoughts regarding the latest Lunar New Year stamp and the design process that gave rise to the final design.

“The Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake design is intended to present the animal in a manner that accentuates its grace and beauty, and avoids the negative associations found so often in western cultures,” Alcala said. “The goal is to make the stamp feel celebratory and exciting.”

“The most important consideration in creating the current Lunar New Year series was to move away from traditional representations of the celebrations and towards highlighting the animals associated with each year in a colorful, bright, and contemporary manner,” Alcala said.

Alcala provided some more background on the decision not to use a mask for the Year of the Snake.

“Although all the previous Lunar New Year stamps in the series are masks, the Year of the Snake one is not,” he said. “We thought it an opportunity to highlight the graceful shape and motion of the snake instead of featuring just a head. It is, however, a three-dimensional artwork like the previous pieces in this series.”

Chew was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design when the Postal Service commissioned her to do the artwork for the 2020 Year of the Rat stamp.

According to the school, Alcala first came across Chew’s work on Instagram, where she currently has more than 23,400 followers. Chew is based in Providence, R.I.

The snake design was shown previously as one of 12 simple sketches in the margin of the pane for the 2020 Year of the Rat stamp. That pane was pictured on page 16 of the March 9, 2020, issue of Linn’s.

Chew’s snake design is rendered in hues of green and yellow. Stylized tassels dangle from floral accents on two places of the snake’s curved body. The snake’s forked tongue, prominently stuck out, points to the bottom of the stamp.

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