About This Stamp
The 2026 Kwanzaa stamp is the 11th since 1997 in a series honoring the Pan-African holiday that is observed by millions of Americans from December 26 to January 1 each year.
Founded in the United States in 1966, a time of social upheaval, Kwanzaa was meant to help unify African Americans from a wide array of religious and cultural backgrounds. With its name derived from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning “first fruits,” Kwanzaa draws on ancient and modern first-harvest festivities occurring across the African continent.
Each day of the holiday is dedicated to one of seven principles: Unity (Umoja); Self-Determination (Kujichagulia); Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima); Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa); Purpose (Nia); Creativity (Kuumba); and Faith (Imani).
Kwanzaa is a time for remembering past hardships and contemplating how history can inform and impact future happiness, but the holiday also has a festive side, when families and communities may rejoice in the prospect of health, prosperity, and good luck in the coming year.
Since this was going to be the 11th Kwanzaa stamp, art director Antonio Alcalá hoped to feature art that would bring a fresh take on the celebration. He chose Cannaday Chapman for the job, having followed the artist’s work for many years and admiring its distinctive spirit.
For his part, Chapman decided to focus on the family aspect of Kwanzaa, not least because he’s a new father to a daughter. He also has fond childhood memories of celebrating the holiday with his family, including lighting the candles and wearing traditional clothing. Due to the small size of a stamp, it made sense to include just two people — and thus we have the first Kwanzaa stamp highlighting a father-daughter pair.
The stamp’s color scheme is another first. “I wanted to use colors that felt fresh and unexpected compared to the traditional Kwanzaa palette,” Chapman explains. “The lime green, pink, and yellow combination is intended to be a vibrant, updated take on the traditional green, red, and black.”
His artwork incorporates two of the seven Kwanzaa symbols: the daughter holds a gift (zawadi), while her father holds a unity cup (kikombe cha umoja). The other five are the candleholder (kinara), seven candles (mishumaa saba), crops (mazao), mat (mkeka), and corn (muhindi).
“My goal for Kwanzaa stamps is that they honor the celebration and the celebrants and appeal to the general public,” Alcalá says.
The Kwanzaa stamp 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.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.
Stamp Artist
Cannaday Chapman
Cannaday Chapman is an illustrator whose work has been recognized with several awards, including the Alvin and Norma Pimsler Award from the Society of Illustrators. He counts among his influences Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, David Hockney, and Henri Matisse, as well as Japanese and American comics and animation.
Originally from Rochester, New York, Chapman earned a B.F.A. in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, then worked in the advertising, fashion, and greeting card industries before transitioning to freelance work.
Clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Google, Amazon Studios, Target, American Express, Planned Parenthood, MUBI, Harper Collins, GQ Magazine, Rolling Stone, AirBnB Magazine, Simon and Schuster, and Penguin Books. In addition, Chapman’s illustrations have graced Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson, by Jen Bryant (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019), and All Star: How Larry Doby Smashed the Color Barrier in Baseball, by Audrey Vernick (Harper Collins, 2022)
Chapman is currently based in Berlin, Germany.
Kwanzaa (2026) is his first project for the U.S. Postal Service.