In the Isle of Man, many don’t like saying the common name for rattus norvegicus.

The superstitious prefer euphemisms such as longtail, joey, ringie, queerfella, iron fella and the Manx word for the rodent, roddan.

Saying the R word is meant to bring bad luck.

But the Isle of Man Post Office is undeterred in its never-ending quest to find new subjects on which to base its stamps.

This week it issued a set of four stamps to celebrate the Year of the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar.

The Chinese have a very different attitude to rats than Manx people. The rodent has many positive attributes in Chinese culture.

The years of the Chinese calendar follow a 12-year cycle and each year is associated with one of 12 animal symbols (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig).

Every New Year marks the end of the reign of one animal and the beginning of the next.

Those born under the sign of an animal are thought to possess the qualities associated with it. With a history of more than 4,000 years the Chinese New Year 2020 will start on Saturday, January 25.

Celebrations culminate on February 8 with the celebration of the traditional lantern festival. The year of the rat will end on February 11, 2021, to be followed by the year of the ox.

This is the year of the Metal Rat.

It indicates a strong, prosperous and lucky year for all Chinese zodiac signs.

Everyone will show determination regarding their goals, aspirations and their hobbies.

Manx born artist Megan Hindley (also known as Stedhead) created four images that are designed to capture the physical agility and intelligence of these creatures.

She said: ’It is a genuine honour to be asked to produce the images for this stamp collection. It’s a delight to know that my artwork will travel the world from my home island.’

Isle of Man Stamps and Coins general manager Maxine Cannon said: ’We are very proud to be celebrating the Spring Festival with these energetic and beautiful images created by Stedhead.

’Honouring the Chinese New Year with a stamp collection has become a tradition for us and being able to do so with imagery created by a Manx born artist is the icing on the cake.’

The four-piece set, a first day cover and a presentation pack are available for pre-order at www.iompost.com/rat.