WHAT:

First-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Illinois Statehood Forever stamp. The event is free and open to the public. Beginning February 8, RSVP to usps.com/Illinois. Please share the news using the hashtags #IllinoisStamp and #IllinoisStatehood.  

WHO:

Illinois Deputy Governor Leslie Munger
U.S. Postal Service Acting Chief Customer and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Jacqueline Krage Strako

WHEN:

Monday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m. CT

WHERE:

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
112 North 6th Street
Springfield, IL  62701

Followers of the U.S. Postal Service’s Facebook page can view the ceremony live at facebook.com/USPS.

BACKGROUND:

This stamp celebrates the 200th anniversary of Illinois statehood. Known as the Prairie State, Illinois became the 21st state Dec. 3, 1818.

The stamp art features an outline of the state map with a series of yellow beams radiating upward like the rays of a rising sun. The colors begin at the bottom with a deep yellow, fading upward to pale yellow and then into pale blue, with increasingly deeper blues rising to the top of the state’s outline. The yellows and blues symbolize the dawning of a new day as the state joins the Union. Stars, representing the first 20 states, grace the top of the stamp. The rising sun symbolizes the 21st star.

Chicago artist Michael Konetzka designed the stamp and created the artwork. Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA, was the project's art director.