UNPA Year of the Horse pane continues Lunar New Year series

By David Hartwig

A pane of 10 stamps issued Jan. 16 by the United Nations Postal Administration celebrates the Year of the Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar.

The stamps are denominated $1.70 for use at the post office at U.N. headquarters in New York City. The denomination meets the United States Postal Service international letter and postcard rates.

The stamps depict a running horse, with the date in the lower corner of the stamps and the denomination and Chinese calligraphy in two upper corners. Five stamps in the pane of 10 show the horse facing right and five show the horse facing left.

According to the UNPA, the inspiration for the design came from the Eastern Han Dynasty bronze sculpture Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow.

Larger, mirrored versions of the part of the design showing the front portion of the horse appear on the selvage to the left and right of the 10 stamps. The pane is perforated vertically down the middle.

English text states “Chinese Lunar Calendar” and “Year of the Horse 2026” next to Chinese calligraphy at both sides of the top of the selvage. Copyright dates and text crediting the artist Tiger Pan appear at both sides of the bottom of the pane.

The labels on the pane feature the United Nations logo and can be personalized by visiting UNPA stamp shops at the U.N. offices in New York City; Vienna, Austria; or Geneva, Switzerland; or uploading photos to the UNPA website at unstamps.org.

This special event sheet continues a sheet design and format the UNPA began in 2022 for its Lunar New Year stamp series. Chinese artist Tiger Pan (or Pan Hu) designed all the issues in the series since 2022.

The 2022 stamps for the Year of the Tiger (Scott 1290 and 1291) show a tiger walking through a thick patch of flora outlined in gold against the white background. The 2023 stamps for the Year of the Rabbit (Scott 1309 and 1310) show a rabbit imposed over a gold circle surrounded by outlines of decorative shapes.

The 2024 stamps show a dragon winding its way through flowers, smoke and fire for the Year of the Dragon (Scott 1328 and 1329), and the 2025 stamps for the Year of the Snake show four snakes winding through flowers and one another (1352 and 1353). The selvage and labels on a pane of a 2018 UNPA stamp (1187) show designs illustrated by Pan and related to the Year of the Dog.

The Year of the Horse runs from Feb. 17, 2026, to Feb. 5, 2027. The horse is the seventh animal sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle, following the snake and preceding the goat. Other recent Years of the Horse were 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1955, 1942 and 1930.

According to the website chinesenewyear.net, those born in the Year of the Horse are known to be confident, agreeable and responsible. “Horses are leaders who rarely accept defeat, so they can motivate themselves to put up an active fight in everything they do,” the website says.

Famous people born in the Year of the Horse include Clint Eastwood, Joe Biden, Jackie Chan, Cindy Crawford, Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant and Greta Thunberg.

Cartor Security Printing of France printed the Year of the Horse stamps. The stamps measure 40.6 millimeters by 29.8mm, and the labels are 26.6mm by 29.8mm.

For ordering information for the Year of the Horse stamps and related products, visit the website unstamps.org; email unpanyinquiries@un.org; or write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900.

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