About This Stamp
This commemorative stamp marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of 102 English passengers off the coast of today’s Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. The passengers on the Mayflower would become known to us as Pilgrims, and the story of their colony in America would inspire future generations and become part of the larger story of the nation’s founding ideals.
Artist Greg Harlin illustrated the stamp, using a combination of watercolor, gouache, and acrylics, with some digital refining to convey a scene of desolate beauty at the end of the Pilgrims’ harrowing journey to an unfamiliar world. The stamp also features a stylized hawthorn flower printed in intaglio. In England, the hawthorn — a member of the rose family — is sometimes called a mayflower, as it blooms in May.
The Pilgrim’s story is intertwined with the story of the Wampanoag — People of the First Light — who made an alliance with the Pilgrims and forged a treaty with them that maintained relative peace for more than 50 years. The Pilgrims might not have survived their first year without the help and advice of the Wampanoag, with whom the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest in the fall of 1621.
The Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Rock, Thanksgiving — all became part of the enduring legacy of this tiny band of settlers whom we honor on the 400th anniversary of their arrival in America.
Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp and pane.
The "Mayflower" in Plymouth Harbor 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
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Stamp Artist
Greg Harlin
Illustrator Greg Harlin has always called the Washington, D.C. area home. A comic book collector as a child, Harlin got his artistic start by copying the art in his favorite issues. His mother’s affinity for Andrew Wyeth also helped shape his desire for a life in the arts from a young age.
Shortly after receiving his B.F.A. in graphic design from the University of Georgia in 1980, Harlin began working for a large illustration company in Atlanta. In 1981, he switched gears, signing on with a small design firm in Annapolis, Maryland, which he loved so much that he never left.
From his first painting of a colonial minuteman, which still hangs in his childhood home, Harlin has loved capturing historical subjects. This interest opened the door to working with some of his favorite clients, including National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Park Service. Harlin has also illustrated five children’s books covering several topics from American history; among them are We the People, Hanukkah at Valley Forge, and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.
Through his historical watercolors, Harlin is able to see “life come into [his] subjects; moving and changing, they become real.” Harlin’s eye for meticulous detail and knack for uncovering stories have won him national acclaim.
When he isn’t painting, Harlin likes to soak up the rich history in the nation’s capital. He currently works and lives in Annapolis with several cats.
Harlin's projects for the U.S. Postal Service include The War of 1812: Fort McHenry (2014), The War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans (2015), Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766 (2016), Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor (2020), and Battlefields of the American Revolution (2025).