Happy Independence Day, America!

We know you’re celebrating the nation’s birthday with parties and fireworks today, but we’ve got a bit of trivia to stoke your patriotism. Do you know how the U.S. flag received its distinguished nickname of Old Glory? We did some digging and found out!

The first American flag to don the name “Old Glory” was made by Captain William Driver in 1824. He proudly flew the handsewn flag on his ship in which he circled the globe twice. Displaying it on patriotic holidays thereafter, Driver gave the sea-weathered flag a name befitting its role as a symbol of liberty and justice.

USPS00STA026KThe original flag Driver made contained 24 stars on a field of blue. In 1861, he remade the tattered flag with 34 stars, reflecting the addition of ten states to the Union sincFlagsSeasons-2013-Forever-block4-BGv2e his first flag was created. The story of Old Glory, which survived the Civil War in Confederate Tennessee sewn into a quilt, became a legend and the name was soon adopted for all American flags.

Celebrate Independence Day this year with the patriotic A Flag for All Seasons Forever® stamps. They are available and in Post Offices nationwide, or you can call (). Like the flag pictured on them, these stamps are good forever.

Civil War Stamp Series to Continue in 2013

We are pleased to announce this morning that our commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (1861–1865) will continue later this year with the release of the Civil War: 1863 souvenir sheet. The sheet features two stamp designs: the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the war, and the Battle of Vicksburg, a complex Union campaign to gain control of the Mississippi River.

CivilWar1863-Forever-Block-v2Art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia, created the stamps using images of Civil War battles. The Battle of Gettysburg stamp is a reproduction of an 1887 chromolithograph by Thure de Thulstrup (1848–1930), a Swedish-born artist who became an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly after the Civil War. Thulstrup’s work was one of a series of popular prints commissioned in the 1880s by Boston publisher Louis Prang & Co. to commemorate the Civil War.

The Battle of Vicksburg stamp is a reproduction of an 1863 lithograph by Currier & Ives titled “Admiral Porter’s Fleet Running the Rebel Blockade of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, April 16th, 1863.”

The Battle of Gettysburg and Battle of Vicksburg stamps will be issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

The U.S. Postal Service launched the Civil War stamp series in 2011, and a souvenir sheet of two stamp designs is being issued for each year of the war. The series will continue through 2015.

USPS Commemorates 150 Years of West Virginia Statehood in 2013

We are very pleased to announce today that the U.S. Postal Service will celebrate 150 years of West Virginia statehood with the issuance of a Forever® stamp in 2013.

Admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, West Virginia is one of only two new states created during the war and the only one created by separation from a Confederate state. Located entirely within the Appalachian Highlands, West Virginia is now known as the Mountain State. Its official motto reflects the realities of topography as well as its individualistic spirit: montani semper liberi, “mountaineers are always free.”

WVStatehood-Forever-single-BGv1The stamp features an October 2008 photograph by Roger Spencer showing an early morning view looking east from the Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150) in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, within Monongahela National Forest.

Spencer, a lifelong West Virginian, believes that a successful photograph should produce an emotional response that recalls the experience the photographer had while creating it. “This image,” he says, “evokes the serenity one feels when standing atop one of our mountains, breathing in the clean, refreshing, mountain air of a cool October morning, and viewing the landscape bathed in the surreal glow of the misty, early morning light.”

Spencer adds that for many West Virginians, a breathtaking panoramic view truly exemplifies their home state. “Any image representing West Virginia must include our beloved mountains, from which our state gets its nickname, ‘The Mountain State,’” he explains. “Our state slogan, ‘Wild and Wonderful,’ is also embodied in this image of our rugged mountains and valleys.”

A release date for the stamp has not yet been set.

Letterpress Emancipation Proclamation Poster Evokes Civil War-era Broadsides

PosterCommemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with this .

This unique collectible was created using antique wood type and ornamentation set by hand at in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the oldest working letterpress shops in the U.S. (It opened about 15 years after the end of the Civil War.)  “We’re proud to be part of such a momentous occasion in such a modern context,” said shop manager Jim Sherraden.

The 16 x 23-inch poster, which is numbered and has been signed by designer Gail Anderson, is perfect for framing and will make a truly distinctive addition to your collection. .