Vietnam launches festive Year of the Horse stamps

Vietnam has released its 2026 Lunar New Year stamp collection, using Tet not only as a festive marker but also as a platform to showcase cultural identity and contemporary Vietnamese design, Hanoi Times reports.

Issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the set is titled Nine-Maned Horse, drawing on Vietnamese folklore in which the mythical horse symbolizes loyalty, endurance and prosperity.

Mini sheet stamps issued ahead of Tet.

The collection includes two stamps and a souvenir block, blending traditional imagery with a modern folk-art style aimed at both domestic and international collectors. The main design features a pair of horses in white and red arranged in a yin-yang formation, carrying ceremonial drums, a familiar element of Tet celebrations and village festivals marking the arrival of spring.

Detail from the minisheets in this year’s stamp collection.

The souvenir block expands the theme with eight horses galloping together, a visual associated with reunion and collective strength, echoing official messaging around social cohesion and optimism at the start of the new year.

Issued in denominations of VND4,000, 15,000 and 19,000, the stamps are accompanied by first-day covers, minisheets, booklets and other collectible formats. Designed by artist Nguyen Quang Vinh, the set highlights how even small cultural objects like stamps are increasingly positioned as creative exports and tools of soft power.

In Vietnamese tradition, the Horse symbolizes energy, resilience and forward momentum, a fitting motif for a year widely expected to test stamina as much as speed.