About U.S. Stamps
Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

Flags of Our Nation Series 2008-2012

refer to caption
42-cent District of Columbia and Cherry Tree coil single

In 2008 the Postal Service began a new multi-stamp definitive series called “Flags of Our Nation”. Two sets of ten stamps each were issued that year, and a set of ten was issued every year thereafter through 2012. The resulting series of sixty stamp designs depicted the fifty state flags, five territorial flags, the flag of the District of Columbia, and the Stars and Stripes flying over four American landscapes.

Art director Howard E. Paine designed the sixty-stamp series, and artist Tom Engeman created the highly detailed flag portraits on the stamps, reproducing as accurately as possible such complex elements as intricate state seals and coats of arms. In addition to the flag art, each stamp design includes a "snapshot view" of the state or other area represented by a particular flag. This artwork, also by Tom Engeman, usually shows an ordinary scene or activity from that region, or a typical plant or animal, but occasionally it depicts something less commonplace.

The first set of ten 42-cent stamps was issued on June 14, 2008, in Washington, DC. This set begins with a stamp featuring the Stars and Stripes in front of a bank of clouds, and continues on to showcase the flags of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Delaware. Five hundred million stamps from the first set were printed in the gravure process by American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products (SSP), Columbus, Wisconsin.

The second set in the series, issued on Septemer 2, 2008, in Washington, DC, features the flags of the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kansas. Five hundred million stamps from the second set were printed in the gravure process by American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products (SSP), Columbus, Wisconsin.

The third set was issued on August 6, 2009, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the American Philatelic Society Stamp Show. The ten 44-cent stamps in this set depict the flags of Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Missouri, and also the Stars and Stripes flying over amber waves of grain. Five hundred million stamps from the third set were printed in the gravure process by American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products (SSP), Columbus, Wisconsin.

On April 16, 2010, in New York, New York, at the Mega Stamp Show, the fourth set of “Flags of Our Nation” stamps was issued. This set begins with a Stars and Stripes stamp depicting the "purple mountain majesties" inspired by the opening lines of "America the Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), and continues with stamps honoring the flags of Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and North Dakota. American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products printed 500 million stamps from the fourth set using the gravure process.

The fifth set was issued on August 11, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio, at the American Philatelic Society Stamp Show. This set of ten stamps was the first in the “Flags of Our Nation” series to be issued as Forever stamps, and includes flags from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee. Two hundred fifty million stamps from the fifth set were printed in the gravure process by American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products (SSP), Columbus, Wisconsin.

The sixth and final set of ten stamps in the “Flags of Our Nation Series” was issued on August 16, 2012, in Sacramento, California, at the American Philatelic Society Stamp Show. This set of ten Forever stamps features flags from Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and also adds a final stamp showing the Stars and Stripes flying above the fruited plain. Two hundred fifty million stamps from the fifth set were printed in the gravure process by American Packaging Corporation/Sennett Security Products (SSP), Columbus, Wisconsin.

Reference:

  • Postal Bulletin (May 22, 2008).
  • Postal Bulletin (July 31, 2008).
  • Postal Bulletin (July 2, 2009).
  • Postal Bulletin (March 11, 2010).
  • Postal Bulletin (July 14, 2011).
  • Postal Bulletin (July 12, 2012).

About U.S. Stamps