Stamp Requests

Ngày gia đình Việt Nam là một ngày lễ tôn vinh gia đình Việt Nam, là ngày mọi người trong gia đình quan tâm đến nhau, xã hội quan tâm đến trẻ nhỏ và những người không có cha mẹ, cặp vợ chồng phải hiểu được giá trị mái ấm và cùng nhau vượt qua sóng gió để có một gia đình hạnh phúc "Xây dựng gia đình no ấm, bình đẳng, tiến bộ và hạnh phúc".

Aztec New Year in Mexico falls on March 12 every year. It signifies the start of the New Year according to the Aztec calendar. We often imagine time as a linear concept — a straight line running from point A to B. The Aztecs took a radically different view. Time was a force. It provided energy and change. Time was often a harbinger of miracles. The Aztecs viewed it through a lens of continual creation, destruction, and regeneration. Given the ebb and flow of life itself, we think they were spot on. Aztec New Year celebrates an ancient culture whose ideas still find resonance today. It’s a date with plenty of symbolism, traditions, and celebrations. The holiday is special to Nahua communities in Mexico — groups of indigenous people who live in Mexico and parts of El Salvador. In the original Nahuatl, the holiday is called ‘Yancuic Xihuitl.’ Nahuatl is a fascinating language with numerous dialects and has Uto-Aztecan roots. The Nahua communities today speak a mix of both Nahuatl and Spanish. From 1300 to 1521, the Aztecs rose to power and influence as the center of Mesoamerican culture. They followed the Mexica or Aztec calendar — a 365-day calendar cycle comprising two parts that ran simultaneously. The first was the year count or xiuhpohualli. The second was tonalpohualli, or ‘counting of the days’ — a 260-day ritual cycle. Yancuic Xihuitl celebrations today usually take place the night before, on March 11. Expectedly, the celebrations are spectacular. Cities like Nuapan, Huauchinango, Xicotepec, Zongolica, and Mexico City organize numerous events on this day. Celebrations commence with ceremonial dances and songs set to the beat of traditional drums. Dancers come dressed in colorful traditional finery and quetzal feather headgear. Anyone fortunate to attend can attest to how mesmerizing these performances are. People present seeds as offerings and light ‘ocote’ or pitch-pine candles that produce aromatic and extremely flammable resin. Towards the end of the ceremony, people burn a flag representing the year gone by and perfume a replacement flag. Finally, they welcome the New Year by blowing into conch shells — the same way their ancestors used to centuries ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_New_Year

I read that yesterday was Vyshyvanka Day in Ukraine, a day to celebrate Ukrainian culture and keep traditions alive. Vyshyvanka is the name of traditional Ukrainian shirts, with very beautiful embroidered patterns on them. Similar patterns are seen in other parts of Eastern Europe as well. The stamp could be a man or woman wearing a vyshyvanka, or just the pattern by itself for example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyshyvanka_Day

Happy harvest and Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!

In Buddhism, the light of a lantern represents the moving away from darkness into a brighter future. And in northern Thai culture, making lanterns or donating them to the local wat (temple) is a way for Buddhists to make merit. Making lanterns is traditionally carried out at the time of Yi Peng to mark the end of the rainy season. During the Yi Peng Lantern Festival, colourful lanterns are hung outside homes and temples. Sky lanterns are also released during Yi Peng to pay respect to Buddha and as a way for people to symbolically let go of bad memories and make a wish for good luck. https://yipengchiangmailanternfestival.com/

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I think it’d be cool for the Philippines to have an exclusive regional-based stamp for Christmas as the Philippines spends the longest Christmas celebration ever, starting from the beginning of BER months until the first week of January. (Source: https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/4-months-of-Christmas-in-the-Philippines ) Christmas Parols are a huge part of our tradition, and so it’d be nice to have a stamp about it. They look similar to this in real life ( https://www.google.com/search?q=parol+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiAja-Hubn0AhUALDQIHauODpoQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=parol+&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIKCAAQsQMQgwEQQzIECAAQQzIFCAAQgAQyCwgAEIAEELEDEIMBMgUIABCABFD7BFjACmCYDWgAcAB4AIABWogBoQSSAQE4mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=k52iYcD3HYDY0PEPq5260Ak&bih=715&biw=414&client=safari&prmd=sivxn&hl=en-us#imgrc=MFeVmddynjPtjM ) And I also found some art online which could be use as an inspiration: https://www.google.com/search?q=christmas+parol+art&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjT7_-tubn0AhU2FzQIHQ0PCfIQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=christmas+parol+art&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQzQI6BQgAEIAEOgUIIRCrAjoECAAQQzoECAAQGFDHBFiiF2DKGWgAcAB4AIABWogB_gWSAQIxMZgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=5J2iYdPtHrau0PEPjZ6kkA8&bih=715&biw=414&client=safari&prmd=sivxn&hl=en-us#imgrc=xnBG3XEW1WUl3M https://www.google.com/search?q=christmas+parol+art&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjT7_-tubn0AhU2FzQIHQ0PCfIQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=christmas+parol+art&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQzQI6BQgAEIAEOgUIIRCrAjoECAAQQzoECAAQGFDHBFiiF2DKGWgAcAB4AIABWogB_gWSAQIxMZgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=5J2iYdPtHrau0PEPjZ6kkA8&bih=715&biw=414&client=safari&prmd=sivxn&hl=en-us#imgrc=xnBG3XEW1WUl3M&imgdii=Z528euPjaT9QOM https://www.google.com/search?q=christmas+parol+art&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjT7_-tubn0AhU2FzQIHQ0PCfIQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=christmas+parol+art&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCAAQzQI6BQgAEIAEOgUIIRCrAjoECAAQQzoECAAQGFDHBFiiF2DKGWgAcAB4AIABWogB_gWSAQIxMZgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=5J2iYdPtHrau0PEPjZ6kkA8&bih=715&biw=414&client=safari&prmd=sivxn&hl=en-us#imgrc=GEX1Ke-EI3cgnM

In Hungary, Inventors’ Day is celebrated every year on June 13 in memory of Albert Szent-Györgyi, who registered his patent for vitamin C in 1941. He is one of the 16 Hungarian inventors who have been awarded the Nobel Prize. Szent-Györgyi was born in Budapest in 1893. His maternal grandfather and uncle were Professors of Anatomy at Eötvös Loránd University, which may have influenced his choice of career. In 1911, Szent-Györgyi became a student at Semmelweis University, Hungary’s oldest medical school, and began research in his uncle’s lab. After World War I, Szent-Györgyi carried out research in Bratislava and Groningen. In 1927, he received a PhD from the University of Cambridge for isolating an organic acid which he then called “hexuronic acid”. Three years later, he accepted a position at the University of Szeged. Szent-Györgyi’s most important discovery was the isolation of ascorbic acid, commonly known as vitamin C, which he studied from 1928 to 1932. He discovered that the bell pepper contained large amounts of this acid, and isolated ascorbic acid from paprika. Thanks to Szent-Györgyi’s research, British chemist Walter Norman Haworth was able to determine the structure of ascorbic acid and synthesize it. In 1937, both scientists were awarded a Nobel Prize for their research. Szent-Györgyi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Haworth shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul Karrer. On June 13, 1941 Szent-Györgyi received a national patent for synthesized ascorbic acid. The anniversary of this event is now celebrated as Hungarian Inventors’ Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventors%27_Day#Hungary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Szent-Gy%C3%B6rgyi

Sinterklaas is a Dutch/Belgian Children's festival that happens every year on December 5th. Traditionally, in mid-November, two weeks before his celebrated Feast Day, Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands by boat from his home in Spain. Coming with his white horse (Amerigo) he arrives in the Netherlands with his helpers, the Pieten (Peter), to signify the start of the holiday season. This Sinterklaas tradition is broadcasted live on television. Each year Sinterklaas arrives in a different city. During the two weeks before his birthday, Sinterklaas rides across rooftops at night on his white horse, listening through chimneys for good children and leaving them treats and sweets in their shoes. The build-up is to the eve before his Feast Day (Sinterklaasavond) on 5 December, when Sinterklaas delivers gifts to good children and coal to the naughty. On Sinterklaasavond, children anxiously wait for Sinterklaas to knock on their door. Although Sint usually flies by the time they answer, a sack full of gifts awaits them on their doorstep. Following Sinterklaas‘ visit, each member of the family takes turns handing out presents and unwrapping them. Names are printed on each gift, and almost every present is accompanied by a humorous poem about the gift’s recipient, sometimes teasing them about their good and bad habits. Families celebrate Sinterklaas‘ Feast by singing songs and indulging in a feast of their own, which consists mainly of sweets like marzipan, chocolate initials, pepernoten (ginger biscuits) and hot chocolate with whipped cream.

One of the most unique days in Lithuania - Užgavienės (Shrovetide)! It is a traditional Lithuanian celebration intended to shoo away the winter. On this day a lot of people, especially kids, dress up wearing scary masks to shoo away the winter. It happens every year on a different day. The stamp could be either on of the masks, the fight between Kanapinis and Lašininis or the burning of Morė. Here is some more information on it: https://www.etno.lt/en/shrovetide Pictures: Some of the masks used on the Shrovetide. The fight between Lašininis and Kanapinis. The burning of Morė.

O 25 de abril celebra o fim da ditadura que o país viveu entre os anos de 1933 e 1974.Naquele dia, o povo português ofereceu cravos vermelhos aos soldados em sinal de paz, que as colocaram nos canos de suas espingardas. Por conta disso, a flor tornou-se o símbolo desta data.