Immigration entry-exit stamp shapes hold secret meaning

Immigration entry-exit stamp shapes hold secret meaning

2026-07-23

As people go abroad for summer vacation, they’ve noticed that the entry and exit stamps have different shapes. Turns out there’s a secret meaning behind it! The National Immigration Agency’s Border Affairs Corps explained that the exit stamp is round to symbolize complete and smooth travels, while the entry stamp is an octagon representing the bagua to ward of evil. The characters were written by renowned calligrapher Tong Yang-tze, whose tiny extra dot on the entry stamp also has a special meaning.

Travelers hold their passports, ready to go abroad on vacation. Most people won’t take a second look at what the immigration officer stamped inside. But if you look closely, you’ll find the entry and exit stamps are actually different shapes.

- I never really noticed it.

- I never really looked.

When the National Immigration Agency redesigned the stamp in 2012, they kept some elements the same, but they also invited renowned calligrapher Tong Yang-tze to write the characters.

The exit stamp is round to symbolize a perfect and complete journey, while the entry stamp is the octagonal bagua to represent warding off evil and bringing good fortune. If you look carefully at the character they both share, you’ll find that the calligrapher added an extra dot to the entry stamp.

Kang Ching-nien
Border Affairs Corp officer
I was a bit confused when I first noticed that the one character in the entry stamp has an extra dot. How could she have made a mistake? But as I thought about it, I realized the artist intended it as a wish to bring more travelers to Taiwan.

The second character in the entry stamp has an extra dot on the left side. It’s not a mistake. It represents a wish that more people will come and boost Taiwan’s tourism.

There’s so much to these stamps, and that’s not all. They are also a kind of anti-forgery measure.

Kang Ching-nien
Border Affairs Corp officer
Making a minor redesign also helps to prevent human trafficking syndicates from forging our stamps.

But as the automatic gates are getting more use, the stamps aren’t being used as often. The stamp that should be replaced every five years has now been in use for eight. The next time you go abroad, consider going through the manual inspection lane to see the stamp for yourself!

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#passportstamps #immigration #NIA #travel #passports #bagua #TongYangtze #calligraphy

出入境查驗章形狀不一樣! 圓形.八角形各有意涵

2026-07-23

暑假是出國旺季，最近有網友發現出入境的查驗章，形狀居然不一樣。移民署國境事務大隊解釋，”出境"是圓形章，代表圓圓滿滿一切順利。入境"八角形章"是八卦，象徵趨吉避凶。還有這出自知名書法家董陽孜老師的墨寶，入境的境還多了一點，也有意涵。

民眾拿著護照，開心的在機場準備出國，但大多數人，都跟你我一樣，過海關蓋完章就沒事了，通常不會去注意印章長怎樣，不過仔細看會，護照上的入境章和入境章，原來長得不一樣。

- 沒有特別注意

- 不會特別去看

圖案設計的創意，是移民署在2012年，查驗章更新時，除了延續過往理念，還請來書法名家董陽孜題字。

出境章是圓形，象徵旅途圓滿。入境章則為八角形，象徵八卦，有趨吉避凶的含意。仔細看入境的境和出境的境，看起來很像，但裡頭藏有董陽孜大師的巧思。

[[國境事務大隊特勤隊隊長康慶年]]
“一開始呢有點疑惑，發現他那個入境的境居然多了一點，感覺這個怎麼會寫錯字，啊我唸著唸著，就理解了老師的那個用意，就是要讓入境的旅客可以多一點”

入境的境，土字邊還多了一點，不是寫錯字，是期望入境的人多一點，台灣觀光更興盛。

原來一個查驗章，有這麼多冷知識。重點是它還有防偽功能。

[[國境事務大隊特勤隊隊長康慶年]]
“章戳的小改款，目的也是要防止，那個人蛇集團，他偽刻我們的印章”

隨著自動通關上路，蓋章減少，讓原本五年一換的章，延用到八年。下次出國如果想好好看看這章，也許可以改走人工驗關。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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- Right, study hard.

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