2020 Year of the Rat Souvenir Sheet First Day Cover, Canada

Own Limited-Edition
2020 Canada Year of the Rat
Souvenir Sheet First Day Cover

The 2020 Canada Year of the Rat stamp was inspired by the Chinese folk tale, The Wedding of the Rats’ Daughter.   In the tale, affluent rat parents hope to marry their daughter to the most powerful being around.  They go to the sun, who says it’s light can be blocked by the cloud.  The cloud says it can be blown by the wind, and the wind says it isn’t the most powerful because it can be blocked by a wall.  When they ask the wall, it says a rat would be more powerful since it can easily make a hole in the wall.  Versions of the story diverge here.  Some say the parents marry their daughter to a cat, since rats are scared of cats.  Other versions say that the parents realize she should have been married to a rat all along.

The 2020 Canada souvenir sheet’s selvage shows the rat daughter on her way to the wedding with a procession of rats.  The international rate stamp pictures the rat princess with her groom.  The back of the cover tells about the year of the rat and the stamp design in both English and French.  Order yours now.