2024 U.S. Flags Forever First Class Postage Stamps

U.S. Flag Forever Stamps

Continuing its proud tradition of honoring the nation’s most enduring symbol, the U.S. Postal Service issues these striking stamps in booklets of 20, and coils of 100, 3,000, and 10,000.

Each of the four designs depicts the American flag majestically waving against skies at different times of day. As the shapes and colors of the clouds shift, the sun always illuminates the flag — a powerful reminder of the nation’s enduring spirit. The flags, viewed from a low-angle perspective, draw the eye upward toward the vast beauty of the sky. The illustrator created the artwork using gouache on illustration board, lending each design a bold yet timeless quality.

The Stars and Stripes date back to June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress specified 13 horizontal stripes and 13 stars to honor the original colonies. Except for a brief period from 1795 to 1818 — when 15 stripes were used to represent 15 states — the flag has retained 13 stripes, symbolizing the original colonies. The Flag Act of 1818 permanently standardized the stripes at 13 and mandated the addition of a new star for each state entering the Union.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation establishing June 14 as Flag Day, later officially recognized by Congress in 1949. Over the years, 27 official versions of the U.S. flag have been adopted as new states joined the Union. The current 50-star design debuted on July 4, 1960, following Hawai‘i’s statehood in 1959, and is now the longest-used version in American history.