With this vibrant new Kwanzaa stamp design, the U.S. Postal Service® continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa. This annual non-religious holiday, which takes place over seven days from December 26 to January 1, brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans. December 26, 2016, marks the 50th anniversary of this widely celebrated holiday.
The colorful stamp art features a young African-American woman as the embodiment of Africa. She wears a lavender dress with a collar of African design that also appears in her earring. In front of the woman sits a large purple bowl. It overflows with fruits and vegetables, symbolizing the abundance of African first harvest celebrations.
Created in 1966, Kwanzaa draws on African traditions, deriving its name from the phrase “first fruits” in Swahili, a widely spoken African language. It has its origins in first harvest celebrations that occurred across the African continent in ancient and modern times. Kwanzaa synthesizes and reinvents these tribal traditions as a contemporary celebration of African-American culture.
The three primary colors of Kwanzaa—red, black, and green—also hold special significance for the holiday and its participants. Red indicates the blood shed during struggles endured by those of African descent, black symbolizes the African people, and green signifies growth and renewal. Adopted to help unify African Americans from a wide array of religious and cultural backgrounds, these colors also appear on the Kwanzaa flag, which is prominently displayed during the weeklong celebration.
Artist Synthia Saint James worked with art director Greg Breeding, who designed the stamp.
This is the sixth stamp design issued by the U.S. Postal Service in celebration of Kwanzaa. The first Kwanzaa commemorative stamp was issued in 1997. New designs were also issued in 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2013.
Kwanzaa is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Made in the USA
SKUs featured on this page: 556604
|Denomination & Type of Issue:||First-Class Mail, Forever|
|Format:||Pane of 20 (1 design)|
|Issue Date & City:||October 1, 2016, Charleston, SC 29403|
|Art Director:||Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA|
|Designer:||Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA|
|Typographer:||Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA|
|Artist:||Synthia Saint James, Los Angeles, CA|
|Modeler:||Sandra Lane⁄Michelle Finn|
|Manufacturing Process:||Offset, Microprint|
|Printer:||Banknote Corporation of America|
|Printed at:||Browns Summit, NC|
|Press Type:||Alprinta 74|
|Stamps per Pane:||20|
|Print Quantity:||15 million stamps|
|Paper Type:||Phosphor Tagged Paper, Overall|
|Processed at:||Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit SC|
|Colors:||Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black|
|Image Area (w x h):||0.77 x 1.05 in.⁄19.56 x 26.67 mm|
|Overall Size (w x h):||0.91 x 1.19 in.⁄23.11 x 30.22 mm|
|Full Pane Size (w x h):||5.43 x 5.64 in.⁄317.79 x 143.12 mm|
|Press Sheets Size (w x h):||10.85 x 22.54 in.⁄275.59 x 572.52 mm|
|Plate Size:||320 stamps per revolution|
|Plate Numbers:||“B” followed by four (4) single digits|
|Front:||Plate numbers in four corners of pane|
|Back:||© 2015 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (556600) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text|
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