CLEVELAND / INDEPENDENCE — The U.S. Postal Service salutes the American Flag with a First Day of Issue (FDOI) ceremony of a new 10-stamp booklet of the A Flag For All Seasons Forever stamps. The ceremony takes place at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 16, at Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio 44131, during “Americover 2013” – the 58th annual philatelic convention and exhibition of the American First Day Cover Society.
From the heights of sunny summer to the snowy depths of winter, Old Glory proudly waves—thanks to laws and traditions that encourage respect for our vital national symbol. Guidelines for the display and treatment of the American flag hark back to the National Flag Code adopted in 1923 at the National Flag Conference and amended a year later. A federal law in 1942 further provided specific rules for using and displaying the flag.
Federal law states that the American flag should be displayed every day of the year, but especially on federal and state holidays, the “birthdays” of states, and other days according to presidential proclamation. As long as a flag is a durable, all-weather flag, it may be displayed outdoors throughout the year, regardless of the weather.
Each of the four A Flag For All Seasons stamps shows an American flag, viewed from below, flying from a pole at full staff against a background of trees that evoke one of the four seasons of the year. The stamp art, gouache on illustration board, is the work of Laura Stutzman, who used her personal photographs of the flag as art reference. The art director was Phil Jordan.”
More information on the stamps is available here: http://www.beyondtheperf.com/content/flag-all-seasons-new-take-old-glory
These stamps are Forever® stamps. Forever stamps retain the value of a First-Class stamp “forever.” The stamps are available nationwide at local Post Offices, online at usps.com/stamps or by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724).
Mr. Zip’s Tip: Postage stamps are more than currency. They are miniature works of art designed to reflect the American experience and highlight heroes, history, milestones, achievements, and natural wonders.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
# # #
Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.
For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.
A self-supporting government business, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With nearly 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
Follow the Postal Service on twitter.com/USPS and at facebook.com/USPS.
