Detail

The year of 2012 is the year of the dragon. Being a creature of legends, the dragon is described to have an immense body of a snake, the horns of a deer, the ear of a cow, scaly skin, and four legs. Since ancient times, the dragon has been associated to greatness, thus symbolizing royal authority or the throne. Almost everything associated with kings was preceded by the prefix of “yong” (dragon) such as Yongan (king’s face), Gollyongpo (king’s ceremonial attire), Yongsang (the low wooden bench on which the King sat), etc. In addition, the dragon has been positioned as an auspicious symbol in our everyday life: a dream of forthcoming conception that involves a dragon led to the expectation of the baby growing up to be a great man; farmers worshipped the dragon as the god of water that governs the success of their harvest; fishermen worshipped the dragon as the Dragon King that governs the sea. A new year’s greeting stamp is issued in commemoration of the Year of the Dragon, in the hope that just like the dragon that soars vigorously into the sky with the cintamani in its mouth, the year 2012 will be a year full of hopes for everyone. The New Year’s greetings stamps have been printed with photostorage ink since 2001. This year, the dragon`s body and the pearl-white snowflakes in the stamp are also printed using photostorage ink and glow in the dark.