About This Stamp
For more than half a century, U.S. stamps have depicted the American flag in vivid red, white, and blue. This eye-catching issuance continues that tradition with a striking graphic design of a flag.
The digital illustration by Kit Hinrichs shows a flag with crisp folds and a contemporary look, with a shadow on the small, visible portion of the back to suggest a sense of depth.
Although the American flag had appeared on U.S. stamps as far back as 1869, usually as a small element in a larger vignette, it was only in 1957 that the U.S. Post Office Department developed a quick and economical way to produce bicolor or multicolor stamps that could depict the flag in its true red, white, and blue, thanks to a special press acquired from Switzerland by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In the decades since, multicolored flags have become a consistent motif on U.S. postage. Whether paired with famous landmarks, shown against inspiring vistas, placed in their historical context, or used as a graphic element in a larger design, the flags on U.S. stamps connect us to our nation’s history and serve as icons of patriotism for generations to come.
Ethel Kessler served as art director for this stamp, which was 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
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 and Typographer
Kit Hinrichs
Award-winning designer Kit Hinrichs serves as creative director of Studio Hinrichs, a design group he founded in San Francisco in 2009. Previously, Hinrichs had been a partner for 23 years at the international design firm Pentagram. Among the many diverse projects handled at Studio Hinrichs are branding, exhibition design, retail packaging, print and digital communications, and book and magazine publishing. Its diverse clients include, among others, the California Academy of Sciences, Sappi Paper North America, the National Parks Foundation, the San Francisco Zoo, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and Design Within Reach.
Recently Hinrichs founded the Stars & Stripes Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization that today exhibits the eclectic collection of more than 5,000 items including flag memorabilia, weather vanes, quilts, Native American weavings, flag bearer toy soldiers, and hundreds of other objects that incorporate the American flag into their design. “Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag,” an exhibition designed and curated by Studio Hinrichs and shown in museums across the nation, assembles thousands of flag-related objects and artifacts from the collection. The foundation’s collection has also served as the basis for several books: 100 American Flags: A Unique Collection of Old Glory Memorabilia (2008), Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag (2001), and Stars & Stripes (1987).
Hinrich's stamp designs for the United States Postal Service include U.S. Flag (2018), Flag Act of 1818 (2018), and U.S. Flag Stamped Envelope (2020).