About This Stamp
This stamp honors the United States Coast Guard for its role in protecting the security of the nation and advancing its vital maritime interests.
In an oil painting on masonite, renowned aviation artist William S. Phillips depicts two icons of the Coast Guard: the cutter Eagle, a three-masted sailing ship known as “America’s Tall Ship,” and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, the standard rescue aircraft of the Coast Guard.
One hundred years ago the agency received its current name, when President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the 1915 "Act to Create the Coast Guard." The origins of the Coast Guard, however, go back to 1790, when President George Washington signed into law an act that provided for a fleet of ten boats, or “revenue cutters,” to aid in “the collection of duties . . . imported into the United States.”
Today’s Coast Guard has 41,000 active-duty men and women; 8,000 Reservists; 8,000 civilian employees, and 30,000 volunteer auxiliary personnel. In addition to saving lives at sea, their responsibilities include enforcing maritime law, overseeing aids to navigation, carrying out icebreaking operations, protecting the marine environment, responding to oil spills and water pollution, ensuring port security, supporting scientific research at sea, combating terrorism, and aiding in the nation’s defense.
Phil Jordan was the art director for the stamp.
The United States Coast Guard 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
Phil Jordan
Phil Jordan grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, and attended East Carolina University. After Army service in Alaska, he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in visual communications. He worked in advertising and in design at a trade association before joining Beveridge and Associates, Inc., where he provided art direction for corporate, institutional, and government design projects. A partner in the firm, he left after 18 years to establish his own design firm where he managed projects for USAir, NASA, McGraw-Hill, IBM, and Smithsonian Books, among others. He was Design Director of Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine for 15 years. His work appeared in numerous exhibitions and publications such as Graphis and Communications Arts. A past president of the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, he was an art director for the U.S. Postal Service from 1991 to 2014. A resident of Falls Church, Virginia, he is a retired glider pilot and a member of the Skyline Soaring Club.