About This Stamp
With this 2019 stamp, the Postal Service™ celebrated the American flag, the most recognizable symbol of our nation. Since its creation in the late 18th century, the Stars and Stripes has flown proudly through war and peace, stateside and abroad, and even on the surface of the moon.
The stamp features a U.S. flag, one of several on the flagpoles near the end of Chicago’s Navy Pier, waving in a May breeze.
According to the code of flag etiquette, the flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset every day. Moreover, “when a patriotic effect is desired,” the flag can be flown through the night if properly lit.
Today the American flag waves proudly during the day outside government offices, schools, military bases, and local Post Office™ facilities. Fifty flags, one for each state, are on display around the base of the Washington Monument 24 hours a day, while two flags stand watch day and night over the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The quiet dignity of Old Glory, seen at public and private sites around the country, calls to mind the values of liberty and justice represented by the nation’s flag.
Art director Antonio Alcalá took the photograph that is featured on the stamp.
U.S. Flag 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, Designer, Typographer, and Photographer
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.