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Collect the first 176 Years of United States Stamps! Click here to get started!
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2011 USPS Stamp IssuesLearn everything you need to know about First Day Covers and how to order them by visiting our First Day Covers page including an updated First Day Cover Ordering Calendar, complete with ordering addresses and deadlines. TBD = To Be Determined; PSA = Pressure-sensitive Adhesive; A Forever stamp is always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate when used on a one-ounce envelope. Stamp Issues:
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Lunar New Year – Year of the Rabbit Kumquats, such as those depicted in the stamp art, are given as gifts and eaten for luck at this time of renewed hope for the future. Kessler’s design also incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, using Clarence Lee’s intricate paper-cut design of a rabbit and the Chinese character—drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun—for “Rabbit.” Famous people born in the Year of the Rabbit include film director Francis Ford Coppola, athlete Michael Jordan, and actress Drew Barrymore. |
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Kansas Statehood Kansas is believed to be named after the Kansas River, which bears the name of the Kansa, one of several Native American tribes in the region prior to European settlement. Kansas became the 34th state in the Union on January 29, 1861. Created specifically for the U.S. Postal Service, this stamp is a symbolic artistic snapshot of Kansas that encapsulates many of the state’s most prominent features: history, industry, agriculture, and pioneering ingenuity. |
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Ronald Reagan This new design is being issued to recognize the centennial of the birth of Ronald Reagan. The stamp is one of a number of centennial events taking place across the nation in 2011. |
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Art-Deco Bird This stamp was designed by Carl T. Her rman, who also was the Art Director. The Typographer was Eric Kriemelmeyer, the Artist was Nancy Stahl, the Modeler was Joseph Sheeran and there was no Engraver. |
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Navajo Jewelry |
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Patriotic Quill Pen and Inkwell The stamp, designed by Craig Frazier, Mill Valley, Calif., features a white quill pen dipping into a red-white-and-blue inkwell accented with stars.The image evokes the founding era and highlights the links between today’s correspondence and the past—suggesting, perhaps, that “snail mail” is still a viable option for many Americans. Craig Frazier, an illustrator who lives in Mill Valley, California, created the stamp art digitally. As for the dark blue and cream colors chosen for the background, according to Art Director, Derry Noyes, Washington, DC, “they help make the red, white and blue pop off the page, without detracting from or competing with the strong silhouette.” |
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Latin Music Legends [Click to see 5 designs] For these stamps, artist Rafael Lopez, of San Diego, Calif., painted semi-realistic portraits of each musical artist designed to evoke their personality, vitality, and even their sound. Art director Ethel Kessler, of Bethesda, Maryland, says, “My goal was that when you see the stamp, you hear the music.” |
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Neon Celebrate Inspired by a visit to the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, Art Director Phil Jordan decided that a “Neon Celebrate!” stamp, with its imagery of vivid colors, would be a good way to use neon in a stamp design. “Most neon is huge and stamps are so small,” said Jordan. “The mechanics would be a monumental challenge. Not everyone thought we could pull it off.” |
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Jazz Appreciation Jazz developed originally as an innovative combination of European, American, and African influences. It first flowered near the dawn of the 20th century in New Orleans, where…this unique blend of cultures gave rise to a distinctive musical expression—and the blending process has continued, with jazz incorporating further influences from Latin, Asian, and African cultures. Paul Rogers, an artist living in Pasadena, Calif., explored the way images could become a visual equivalent of jazz music. He was inspired by the cover art from vintage jazz record albums—work that captured the music’s improvisational quality while built on a clear understanding of its underlying structure. |
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Herbs [Click to see 5 designs] — April 7, 29¢ Herbs pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) panes of 20 stamps and PSA coils of 100, New York, NY 10199. The Herbs set of five different designs were issued April 7 at the ASDA’s Spring Show in New York City, in anticipation of the new 29¢ postcard rate that goes into effect April 17. Artist Teresa Fasolino, New York, New York, created original oil paintings that were incorporated into Phil Jordan’s stamp design. Each stamp depicts a particular species in bloom, as well as a typical leaf and flower or seed capsule. As people around the world move away from chemicals, herbs that were used for centuries—many since prehistoric times—have now come back into fashion. These often-common plants have become increasingly recognized for their usefulness as fragrances, flavoring, medicines, decorations, pest control and for spiritual purposes. The species shown are Origanum vulgare (oregano), Linum perenne (flax), Digitalis purpurea (foxglove), Lavandula angustifolio (lavender), and Salvia officinalis (sage). Only the common names appear on the stamps. |
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Common Terns Stamped Card — April 7, 29¢ Common Terns Stamped Cards The Common Terns Stamped Cards were issued as single-cut cards, double-reply cards, and in sheets of 40 cards. The cards were issued in the new post card rate that goes into effect April 17. The common tern (Sterna hirundo), sometimes known as the sea swallow, is a migratory seabird that feeds by plunge-diving for small fish from the ocean, lakes or large rivers. True to its name, it is a common site to anyone who spends time near America’s waterways. |
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Lady Liberty/U.S. Flag [Click to see 2 designs] The Lady Liberty/U.S. Flag Forever first class rate se-tenant pair was first issued on December 1, 2010 in a PSA coil of 100. The photograph of Lady Liberty is by Raimund Linke and the U.S. Flag photograph is by Ron Watts. Terrence McCaffrey of the USPS incorporated the photos into his stamp designs. It has been discovered that the Lady Liberty design uses a photo of a Statue of Liberty reproduction in Las Vegas. |
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Wedding Cake At one time the USPS relied on Love stamps to also serve as appropriate postage on Wedding invitations. That didn’t always work, so in 2009 they tried Wedding stamps, and now have a separate Weddings series. This 64¢ Wedding Cake stamp is intended for use on the outer Wedding Invitation envelope, which carries the RSVP envelope and card. It features a photograph of a wedding cake taken by Renee Comet of Washington, D.C., which depicts a three-tier wedding cake topped with white flowers. Pastry chef Peter Brett of Alexandria, Virginia, created and designed the cake. |
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George Washington George Washington comes back to the postal program with this 20¢ stamp, which meets the add-on ounce First Class rate. This stamp features a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828), one of the most celebrated American painters of his era. The painting shown on the stamp is an oil-on-canvas copy Stuart made of a portrait he did from life in 1796. |
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Voyageurs National Park This 80¢ stamp meets the International rate to Canada and Mexico. It features a photograph of Voyageurs National Park by Richard Olsenius of Annapolis, Maryland, showing rocks and marsh grass in water, a scene that is part of this boundary lakes park in northern Minnesota. |
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New River Gorge Bridge The New River Gorge Bridge also is depicted on the 2005 quarter commemorating the state of West Virginia in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program. One of the highest bridges in the United States, the bridge features a 1,700-foot span that is the longest steel arch in the Western Hemisphere. The Washington Monument could fit under its 876-foot arch with more than 100 yards to spare. The two-hinged deck arch spans a gorge that, before its completion in 1977, required drivers 40 minutes to navigate because of narrow and winding roads. The steel and concrete bridge weighs more than 88 million pounds. Its unpainted, weathering steel oxidizes with age and becomes a rustic brown color that blends the bridge into its rugged surroundings. Held on the third Saturday of October, New River Gorge Bridge Day draws more than 100,000 people, including hundreds of rappellers, who descend down the bridge on ropes, and BASE (building, antenna, span, and earth) jumpers. |
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Civil War [Click to see sheet]
— April 12, Forever Civil War 1861 Souvenir Sheet of 12 (2 designs), Sullivan's Island, SC 29482 The Postal Service begins a series with these stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. A souvenir sheet of two stamps will be issued each year through 2015. The Fort Sumter stamp is a reproduction of a Currier & Ives lithograph, circa 1861, titled “Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor.” The Bull Run stamp is a reproduction of a 1964 painting by Sidney E. King titled “The Capture of Rickett’s Battery.” The painting depicts fierce fighting on Henry Hill over an important Union battery during the Battle of First Bull Run. The stamp pane margin includes comments on the war by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. It also includes some of the lyrics used during the Civil War in “Johnny is Gone for a Soldier,” a song dating back at least to the Revolutionary War. |
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Go Green [Click to see sheet] With Go Green, the U.S. Postal Service raises awareness of simple actions each of us can take to conserve natural resources and promote the health of our environment. Artist Eli Noyes of San Francisco, California, gets the point across showing both genders and a range of ages, from a small girl turning off a light switch to an adult choosing to walk instead of drive. It conveys a positive message: things we can easily do to have an immediate impact on the air we breathe and the energy we consume. |
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Oveta Culp Hobby This stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors Oveta Culp Hobby (1905–1995), journalist, business leader, and public servant. During World War II, she answered the call to public service by forming and leading the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). In 1953, she became the first secretary of the Deparment of Health, Education, and Welfare—the second woman to hold a cabinet post. The stamp art, by illustrator and painter Sterling Hundley, Richmond, Virginia, is based on an undated black-and-white photograph of Hobby in her WAC uniform, with its legendary service cap, the “Hobby hat.” The stamp, designed by Phil Jordan, Falls Church, Virginia, is a departure from previous designs in the Distinguished Americans series. |
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Wedding Roses In 2009 the USPS began issuing Wedding stamps separate from its Love stamp series. This Forever first class one-ounce rate Wedding Roses stamp is intended for use on the RSVP envelope that is enclosed in the outer Wedding Invitation envelope, that outer envelope bearing the 64¢ Wedding Cake stamp that was issued on April 11. The stamp, designed by Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, Maryland, features a photograph taken by Renee Comet of Washington, DC. The photograph shows two white roses gently resting atop a piece of wedding correspondence. A white ribbon is visible in the background. |
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Helen Hayes Actress Helen Hayes, who justly deserved the title “First Lady of the American Theater” for her radiant presence on Broadway for much of the twentieth century will be honored on a stamp in April. She also gave memorable and award-winning performances on radio, film, and television. The stamp features original art by Drew Struzan, whose movie posters for the Indiana Jones and Star Wars series have been seen by millions. Struzan based his design for the stamp on a photograph taken of Hayes circa 1958. |
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Gregory Peck Peck’s own favorite role, and the one for which he is most remembered, is Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. The stamp portrait is a still photograph from the film, which tells the story of Atticus's defense of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. The selvage image shows Peck with the Academy Award he earned for his performance. |
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Mercury Messenger [Click to see 2 designs] — May 4, Forever Mercury Messenger/Alan Shepard PSA pane of 20, (2 designs), Cape Canaveral, FL 32920 The 50th anniversary of America's first manned spaceflight is being commemorated with the issuance of two stamps. One salutes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Project Mercury, America’s first manned spaceflight program, and NASA astronaut Alan Shepard’s historic flight on May 5, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Freedom 7; the other draws attention to NASA’s unmanned MESSENGER mission, a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury. On March 18, 2011, MESSENGER will become the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around Mercury. |
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Purple Heart The new Purple Heart stamp, designed by Jennifer Arnold of Washington, D.C., features a photograph taken by Ira Wexler of Braddock Heights, Maryland, of the Purple Heart medal awarded during World War II to 1st Lieutenant Arthur J. Rubin (1917–1978). In 2003, the Postal Service issued its first Purple Heart stamp, which featured a photograph, also taken by Wexler, of a Purple Heart awarded to Lt. Colonel James Loftus Fowler (USMC) in 1968 following an action on the border between North and South Vietnam. |
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Indianapolis 500
— May 20, Forever Indianapolis 500 PSA pane of 20, Indianapolis, IN 46206 This stamp celebrates the centennial of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, which since 1911 has been held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1909, an investment team led by entrepreneur and automobile dealer Carl Graham Fisher purchased 320 acres of farmland outside Indianapolis, Indiana, with the intention of creating a speedway for both racing competitions and private testing. After a series of motorcycle and automotive races at the new speedway, Fisher decided to focus on a single event, an ambitious 500-mile race to be held on Memorial Day. This stamp depicts Ray Harroun driving #32, the Marmon “Wasp” a car that was also featured on a 17.5-cent stamp in the Transportation series in 1987, winner of the first Indy 500. |
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Garden of Love [Click to see 10 designs] The Garden of Love — ten different First-Class stamps depict a colorful mosaic of flora and fauna in a garden setting. These stamps are a continuation of the Love series, begun in 1973, and are intended for use on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day cards, as well as on other occasions when love and affection are expressed. |
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American Scientists [Click to see 4 designs]
— June 16, Forever American Scientists PSA panel of 20 (4 designs: chemist Melvin Calvin, botanist Asa Gray, physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer, biochemist Severo Ochoa), St. Paul, MN 55164 For each stamp in this block of four, art director Ethel Kessler collaborated with Greg Berger to create a collage featuring a photograph and signature of the scientist, along with items such as equations and diagrams that are associated with the scientist’s research. |
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Duck Stamp Duck stamps are not postage stamps. The Fish and Wildlife Service produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which sells for $15 and raises about $25 million each year to provide critical funds for conserving wetlands for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of people. The new stamp is valid from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012. |
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Junior Duck Stamp The Junior Duck stamp pictures 17-year-old Abraham Hunter’s painting of a pair of ringneck ducks. The Junior Duck stamp is not a postage stamp or a license. The Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a dynamic, art and science program designed to teach wetlands habitat and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school and help reconnect youth with the outdoors. |
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Mark Twain With the 27th stamp in the Literary Arts series, the Postal Service honors Mark Twain, author of beloved works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, widely considered one of the greatest novels in American literature. In this tale of an abused boy and a runaway slave who become friends while riding a raft down the Mississippi River, Twain addressed issues of race and racism in America with a frankness that is still startling more than a hundred years later. Mark Twain was previously honored in the high value of the Famous American Authors set, Sc. 863, where he was identified by his given name, Samuel Clemens. The new stamp uses his pen name, under which he wrote many popular American novels, including Huckleberry Finn, which is featured on a 1993 Classic Books issue, Sc. 2787. Another of his characters, Tom Sawyer, is featured in a Norman Rockwell work that is pictured on a 1972 stamp, Sc. 1470. The First Day of Issue site is Hannibal, Mo., where Samuel Clemens grew up, and which also is the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Art Director and Stamp Designer Phil Jordan collaborated with stamp artist Gregory Manchess, who based his portrait of Twain on a photograph taken around 1907. The stamp background evokes several of Twain’s works set along the Mississippi River of his youth. |
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Pioneers of American Industrial Design [Click to see sheet]
— June 29, Forever Pioneers of American Design PSA pane of 12 (12 designs), New York, NY 10199 Encompassing everything from furniture and electric kitchen appliances to corporate office buildings and passenger trains, the work of these designers helped shape the look of everyday life in the 20th century. The stamps go on sale in July.Industrial design is the study and creation of products whose appearance, function, and construction have been optimized for human use. |
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Owney the Postal Dog
— July 27, Forever Owney the Posal Dog PSA pane of 20, Washington, DC 20066 Many collectors already know that Owney was the canine mascot of the Railway Mail Service. Fond of riding in postal wagons, Owney followed mailbags onto trains and soon became a good-luck charm to Railway Mail Service employees, who made him their unofficial mascot. |
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U.S. Merchant Marine [Click to see 4 designs] Since the founding of the republic, the United States has looked to the commercial maritime industry for much of its growth and security. This stamp issuance pays tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine, the modern name for the maritime fleet that has played this vital role. The four-stamp design on this pane features types of vessels that have formed an important part of this history: clipper ships, auxiliary steamships, Liberty ships, and container ships. The stamps go on sale in July. |
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Flags of Our Nation [Click to see 10 different designs] The Postal Service continues its Flags of Our Nation series with ten more stamp designs that feature the flags of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the states of Ohio through Tennessee. The stamps go on sale Aug. 11. |
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EID Greetings The Eid stamp celebrates the two most important festivals—or eids—in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. On these days, Muslims wish each other Eid Mubarak, the phrase shown in calligraphy on the stamp. Eid Mubarak translates literally as “blessed festival” and can be paraphrased “May your religious holiday be blessed.” The stamp was designed by artist and calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya, who also designed the first Eid stamp. |
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Send a Hello [Click to see 5 different designs]
— August 19, Forever Send a Hello PSA pane of 29 (5 designs), Anaheim, CA This pane of 20 stamps includes five different designs featuring Pixar characters. Since the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was introduced in 2001, all seven Pixar films released since that time have been nominated and five of the seven have won. These designs also were issued in a pack of 20 premium-priced picture post cards containing four of each design. |
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Edward Hopper A sunlit painting by Edward Hopper is the tenth entry in the American Treasures stamp series. The Long Leg, painted in oil on canvas around 1930, depicts a boat sailing against the wind near Provincetown, MA. The stamp goes on sale in August. |
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Lady Liberty/U.S. Flag [Click to see 2 designs] The Lady Liberty/U.S. Flag Forever first class rate se-tenant pair was first issued on December 1, 2010 in a PSA coil of 100. The photograph of Lady Liberty is by Raimund Linke and the U.S. Flag photograph is by Ron Watts. Terrence McCaffrey of the USPS incorporated the photos into his stamp designs. Despite the discovery that the Lady Liberty design uses a photo of a Statue of Liberty reproduction in Las Vegas, the USPS is still using that design. Click for story on the Las Vegas Statue design. |
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Barbara Jordan With the 34th stamp in the Black Heritage series, the Postal Service honors Barbara Jordan, one of the most respected and influential American politicians of the 20th century. The stamp goes on sale in September. Her prodigious list of “firsts” includes being the first African- American woman elected to the Texas legislature, the first African- American elected to the Texas State Senate since 1883, and the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the South. |
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Vanishing Species, Amur tiger cub Featuring a bold graphic of an Amur tiger cub, the artwork depicts just one of the magnificent animals that this stamp is designed to help. The Postal Service will transfer the net proceeds from the sale of these stamps to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to support the Multinational Species Conservation Funds. The stamps will be sold at a price of $11 for a pane of 20, which is a premium of 11¢ per stamp over the current 44¢ first class letter rate. The funds will be divided among the African Elephant Conservation Fund, Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, Great Ape Conservation Fund, Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund and Marine Turtle Conservation Fund. The Amur tiger cub shown in the stamp art is one of five tiger subspecies. When full grown, this cat can weigh up to 650 pounds and measure 13 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail. |
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Romare Bearden [Click to see 4 different designs]
— September 28, Forever Romare Bearden PSA pane of 20 (4 designs), New York, NY 10199 Romare Bearden is celebrated for his ground breaking approach to collage along with his work in watercolors, oils, and other media. His art has been praised for depicting African-American experience in its full dimensionality and is in the permanent collections of major museums across the nation. |
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Holiday Baubles [Click to see block of 4]
— October 13, Holiday Baubles PSA booklet of 20 (4 designs) New York, NY 10199 (at Mega Event) Christmas trees were at first trimmed with fruit—apples were a popular choice—and nuts, candies, or paper. Glass ornaments first appeared in the late 19th century, in Germany, and their use quickly spread to other countries. Styles from the 1950s inspired the ornaments depicted in the stamp art. Linda Fountain, an illustrator located in Hilton Head Island, S.C., created the ornaments shown in the stamp art. The actual art objects are slightly larger than a sheet of typing paper. We will provide more coverage of these issues as the year progresses, and bring you news of the stamps that will no doubt be added to the stamp program during 2011. |
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Madonna of the Candelabra The Christmas stamp for 2011 features a detail from a work by the Italian master Raphael, entitled Madonna of the Candelabra. This tondo (circular painting), oil on panel, dates to around 1513. Raphael ran a large and active workshop. Assistants certainly painted the angels (not shown on the stamp) flanking the central figures of Mary and the infant Jesus, and possibly other parts. The stamp art is a detail as the original photograph was cropped to fit the stamp format. |
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Hanukkah Hanukkah is a joyous yearly festival spanning eight days and nights that is celebrated by Jewish people. It commemorates the successful Jewish revolt led by Judah Maccabee against the oppressive government of Antiochus IV in 165 B.C. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for "dedication." Tradition relates how a miracle took place during the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, which had been desecrated: The remaining supply of sacramental oil, thought to be enough for only one day, burned for eight. Today, family members gather each night during the festival to light candles on a menorah. Other traditions include singing, the exchange of gifts and the spinning of the dreidel. |
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Kwanzaa — October 14, Forever Kwanzaa Holidays PSA pane of 20, New York, NY (at Mega Event). With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates Kwanzaa, a nonreligious holiday that takes place over seven days from December 26 to January 1. Kwanzaa draws on African traditions and takes its name from the phrase for “first fruits” in Swahili, a widely spoken African language. This is the fourth stamp design issued by the USPS in celebration of Kwanzaa. The first Kwanzaa commemorative stamp was issued in 1997.
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New stamp collectors click here![Herbs [Click to see 5 designs]](generateditems/2011%20USPS%20ImagesWeb/2011-Herbs.jpg){kind=link}
![Lady Liberty/U.S. Flag [Click to see 2 designs]](generateditems/2011%20USPS%20ImagesWeb/2011-LadyLibertyFlag.jpg){kind=link}
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