USPS Issues Kwanzaa Stamp Today

The U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa, an annual Pan-African  holiday that brings together family, community, and culture for many African Americans. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #KwanzaaStamps.

The stamp is being issued today at the African American Cultural Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

With this new stamp design, the U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa, the annual Pan-African holiday, which takes place over seven days from December 26 to January 1 and brings together family, community and culture for many African-Americans.

The stamp art depicts a man, woman and child 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. The family is gathered around a kinara (candleholder), the warm light from the seven candles (mishumaa saba) illuminating their faces. Several other important Kwanzaa symbols sit on the table — a few ears of corn (muhindi) and various fruits and vegetables (mazao); the kikombe cha umoja (unity cup); and the mkeka, a straw mat on top of which everything is placed.

Each year, millions of African-Americans gather with friends and family throughout the week of Kwanzaa to honor the holiday’s seven founding principles — unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba) and faith (Imani). Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to the focus of one of these seven principles, collectively known as the Nguzo Saba.

Artist Floyd Cooper worked with art director Derry Noyes, who designed the stamp.

This is the seventh stamp design issued by the Postal Service in celebration of Kwanzaa. The first Kwanzaa commemorative stamp was issued in 1997. New designs also were issued in 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016.