What: 

The Postal Service observes the two most important festivals – or eids—in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha at the First-Day-of-Issue ceremony for the new Eid stamp.

Like other stamps in the Postal Service’s Holiday Celebrations series, the Eid stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce price.

Who:    

Derron Bray, USPS Executive Postmaster, Detroit, Michigan
Samie U. Rehman, USPS Manager, Revenue and Volume Forecasting
Fouad Khalil, USPS Communication Specialist, Information Technology
Barbara L. McQuade, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
Sam Salamey, Chief Judge, Dearborn’s 19th District Court, Michigan
Dr. Albert Harp, Retired Educator and Emeritus Trustee Islamic Center of America
Zena Elayan, Student, Chamberlain College
Muslim American Youth Academy (MAYA) Students, Islamic Center of America
Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1139

Where: 

Islamic Center of America
19500 Ford Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
(Note: The public should feel free to RSVP at usps.com/eid .)

When:

Friday, June 10, 2016; Noon EST

Background:

The U.S. Postal Service® has issued stamps to commemorate these two Islamic holidays since 2001. The first Eid stamp, featuring gold calligraphy on a blue background, was issued on September 1, 2001. A new Eid stamp with gold calligraphy against a reddish background debuted in 2011 and was reissued with a green background in 2013. All Eid issuances to date have featured the work of world-renowned calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya of Arlington, Virginia.

Zakariya created the gold-colored calligraphy on this stamp. The script reads Eidukum mubarak, “May your Eid be bountiful (or blessed).” The calligraphy on previous Eid stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service has read Eid mubarak, “may the religious holiday be blessed,” with the “your” implied, but Zakariya added the word to this new stamp to give the text more body within a horizontal frame.

In 2016, Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated in North America on July 6 and Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on Sept. 12. In 2017, Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated in North America on June 25 and Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on Sept 1. (These dates, which are based on geographical location and predicted sightings of the moon, are preliminary and may vary slightly as each festival approaches.)

Find more information about the new stamp at usps.com/stamps, facebook.com/uspsstamps or uspsstamps.com

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.