32c Kwanzaa stamp

The U.S. Postal Service issued the first 32 cent stamp designed by self-taught artist Synthia Saint James for Kwanzaa on October 22, 1997. This design was revalued three times to 33-cent, 34-cent and 37-cent in 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively. A total of 133 million Kwanzaa stamps were produced in 1997.

Kwanzaa is an African-American holiday symbolizing the need for a harmonious and principled togetherness in the family, the neighborhood, the nation, and the world. The seven guiding principles that Kwanzaa celebrates are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

The Postal Service issued a 32-cent Kwanzaa stamp on October 22, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. The stamp features the seven symbols used to celebrate the seven principles that are the foundation of Kwanzaa.

The stamp is the second in the Holiday Celebrations Series. The Holiday Celebrations Series was begun in 1996 to reflect a different cultural or ethnic holiday each year. The first stamp in the series was the Hanukkah stamp on October 22, 1996.

Designed and illustrated by Synthia Saint James of Los Angeles, California, the stamps were issued in self-adhesive panes of fifty and self-adhesive vendible booklets of fifteen. Avery-Dennison produced the stamps in the gravure process.

Reference: Postal Bulletin (September 25, 1997).

Scott Catalogue USA: 3175
mint

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 1998.2010.797