About This Stamp
With a design that evokes centuries of tradition, this stamp featuring gold calligraphy and an olive branch commemorates 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 Eidukum mubarak, the phrase shown in Islamic calligraphy on the stamp. Eidukum mubarak translates literally as “May your Eid be bountiful (or blessed),” a phrase that can be applied to both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The calligraphy on previous Eid stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service® has read Eid mubarak, “may the religious holiday be blessed,” with the “your” implied, but this new stamp includes the word “your” to give the text more body within a horizontal frame. The stylized olive branch carries connotations of abundance, family, hospitality, and peace. The background color is a brilliant blue.
In 2016, Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated in North America on July 6 and Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on September 12. In 2017, Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated in North America on June 25 and Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on September 1. (These dates, which are based on geographical location and predicted sightings of the moon, are preliminary and may vary slightly as each festival approaches.)
The U.S. Postal Service issued its first Eid stamp, with gold calligraphy against a blue background, on September 1, 2001. A new Eid stamp with gold calligraphy against a reddish background debuted in 2011 and was reissued with a green background in 2013.
All Eid stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service to date feature the work of world-renowned calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya of Arlington, Virginia. The art director for this stamp was Ethel Kessler.
Like other stamps in the Holiday Celebrations series, the Eid stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.
Stamp Designer, Stamp Artist
Mohamed Zakariya
Mohamed Zakariya (Zak-a-ree-ya), an accomplished artist, calligrapher, and maker of custom instruments from the history of science, was born in Ventura, California, in 1942. He has devoted more than 35 years to the study of Islamic calligraphy and has presented workshops, demonstrations, and lectures on the subject for the Exxon Corporation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Asia Society in New York; the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore; the Smithsonian Institution; and the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.
Zakariya’s calligraphy has been exhibited in Washington, D.C., at the Intercultural Center at Georgetown University, the Renwick Gallery and the S. Dillon Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institution, the Dadian Gallery at Wesley Theological Seminary, and Washington National Cathedral. In addition, he exhibited at the Liturgical Arts Festival in Springfield, Illinois, and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. In 1994 Zakariya participated in an interfaith exhibit at the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., the same year he designed and executed calligraphic panels for the mosque at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Outside the U. S., Zakariya has taught and exhibited in London, England, as well as in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey. A consultant on Islamic arts for the Khalili Collection in London and the Smithsonian Institution, he has also written articles and books, including The Calligraphy of Islam: Reflections on the State of the Art, Observations on Islamic Calligraphy, and Music for the Eyes.
A master woodworker, engraver, and machinist, Zakariya has designed and constructed many historical-style instruments including astrolabes, celestial globes, and sundials. In 1996 he re-engraved the sundial in the Haupt Garden of the Smithsonian Institution.
Zakariya works from his studio in Arlington, Virginia. He created the calligraphy for the original Eid stamp issued in 2001, the second Eid design—first issued in 2011 and reissued with a new background color in 2013—and the third Eid stamp design, first issued in 2016.