About This Stamp
With the 2023 U.S. Flag stamp, the U.S. Postal Service honors an important symbol of our nation.
The stamp, which is being issued in booklets of 20, panes of 20, and coils of 100, 3,000, and 10,000, bears a straightforward graphic design of the red, white, and blue. Providing a solid foundation for the flag are the words FREEDOM in a gray slab sans serif font and, below it, FOREVER / USA in a smaller sans serif font. The manner in which the text is positioned suggests the endurance of freedom as a core value.
The flag serves as a visual reminder of the array of freedoms that Americans enjoy. Its design dates to 1777 when the Continental Congress specified 13 horizontal stripes and 13 stars to honor the 13 original colonies. Various versions of the early flag continued to be used until, in 1818, the U.S. Congress standardized the design, mandating 13 stripes forever but a star for every state. Another act of Congress, in 1947, set the date for each new star's official addition to the flag as the July 4 following the state's admission to the Union. The last time the flag changed was July 4, 1960, after Hawaii achieved statehood the previous August.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with existing art by Hong Li.
The 2023 U.S. Flag 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 rate.
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.