The year 2003 is the Year of the Goat, and on January 5, 2003 the State Postal Bureau issued a set of two special stamps in its honor.

Having a Chinese pronunciation similar to xiang (auspicious), the goat, a frequent decorative motif in ancient times, is a symbol of good luck.

Stamp 1 pictures a clay toy goat produced in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province. It stands squarely and its glaze is in cheerfully bright colors. Its horns are auspiciously snail shaped, and its body is decorated with four-petal sweet-scented osmanthus, symbol of rank.

Stamp 2 shows a paper-cut that combines two goats and the Chinese character yang (goat) in regular script, intimating that "Three yangs signify the beginning of prosperity" -- a Chinese proverb generally used in a new year greeting, referring to winter's accession to spring.

The goat belongs to the bovid, ruminant family that also includes the sheep, Mongolian gazelle, antelope, argali and bharal. Sheep and goats portrayed on Chinese stamps are generally of the domesticated variety.