Stamp Announcement 18-32: Kwanzaa 2018 Stamp

©2018 USPS

On October 10, 2018, in Raleigh, NC, the U.S. Postal Service^® will issue the Kwanzaa 2018 stamp (Forever^® priced at the First-Class Mail^® rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps (Item 565800). The stamp will go on sale nationwide October 10, 2018, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.

With this new stamp, the Postal Service™ continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa. The annual holiday, which takes place over 7 days from December 26 to January 1, brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans. The stamp depicts a small family adorned in a mixture of western and traditional clothing, paying tribute to the holiday’s focus on the contemporary African-American experience while also drawing on African roots. They are gathered around a kinara (candleholder), the warm light from the seven candles illuminating their faces. Several other important Kwanzaa symbols sit on the table. Artist Floyd Cooper used a method he calls “oil erasure” — covering an illustrated board in oil paint and then erasing layers of paint to reveal his images — to create this design of familial love and connection. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.

Availability to Post Offices: Item 565800, Kwanzaa 2018 (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Commemorative Pane of 20 Stamps

Stamp Fulfillment Services will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales. Distribution quantities for the automatic push distribution are available by logging on to SFS Web at sfsweb.usps.gov. Post Offices may begin ordering stamps on the first-day-of-issue through SFS Web; offices must also check the amount they will receive in their automatic push distribution.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark

Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store^® website at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Kwanzaa 2018 Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by February 10, 2019.

How to Order First-Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the USA Philatelic publication and online at usps.com/shop. Customers may register to receive a free USA Philatelic publication online at usps.com/philatelic.

Locally produced items are not authorized. Only merchandise that has been approved and assigned an item number by Headquarters Retail Marketing may be produced and sold.

— Stamp Services, Marketing, 8-30-18