Key Highlights
- Google celebrated the Lunar New Year 2023 on 22nd January with a series of Google doodles.
- It marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, associated with peace and prosperity on the lunar calendar.
- The doodles feature an ornate stylized logo of the company’s name inside a hopping rabbit.
The Year of the Rabbit comes after the Year of the Tiger on the lunar calendar. Google wrote in a doodle explainer that after the first new moon of the Lunar calendar each year, communities around the world set up decorations, make festive food and gather with loved ones to usher in the new year. It added that the Lunar New Year festival traditions date back thousands of years and are associated with peace and prosperity.
The Doodle artwork is crafted from paper to honor Chinese paper-cutting, a long-time Lunar New Year tradition.
Google added that a mythical beast called Nian was known to show up each New Year’s eve and terrorize people and livestock. Loud noises, the color red, and fire scared Nian away, so it became a tradition for families to decorate their doors in red paper, set off fireworks, and leave lanterns burning all night.
Read more: increase-your-savings
Other Versions of Lunar New Year Doodles
Google has also released several versions of its Lunar New Year doodles 2023, including ones for South Korea and Vietnam, where it is known as Tet and marks the Year of the Cat. This year’s Tet festival is traditionally celebrated over three days to spend time connecting with friends and colleagues and visiting temples and ancestral burial sites. Google wrote that during family feasts, people typically eat vegetables, banh chung (sticky rice cake), and cu kieu (pickled scallion).
This year marks the Year of the Cat, associated with prosperity, cleverness, and skillfulness. The Doodle artwork is crafted from paper to honor the paper folding & cutting art traditionally practiced during Lunar New Year.
