The United States Postal Service yesterday unveiled the designs of its new stamps to be issued next year. The following is a list of the stamps according to its scheduled release date.

  • January 14: Lunar New Year. The third stamp in the Lunar New Year series highlights the Year of the Tiger.
  • January 22: Winter Olympics. This issue commemorates the 21st Olympics Games, which will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia Feb. 12-28.
  • February: Distinguished Sailors. This block of four stamps honors William S. Sims (1858-1936), Arleigh Burke (1901-1996), John McCloy (1876-1945), and Doris Miller (1919-1943).
  • February 3: Bixby Creek Bridge. This California structure will be depicted as an Express Mail stamp.
  • February 3: Mackinac Bridge. This famous bridge in Michigan, which opened in 1957, will be the new Priority Mail stamp issue.
  • March: Bill Mauldin The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist (1921-2003) was famous for depicting the lives of soldiers during World War II.
  • March 11: Abstract Expressionists. This sheet of 10 stamps honors the artists behind this artistic movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Each stamp features a work by the individual artist.
  • April or May: Love. The subject of this latest installment to the ongoing stamp series is pansies in a basket.
  • April 4: Flags of Our Nation. The newest addition to the series continues with 10 stamps highlighting state flags from Montana to North Dakota.
  • April 17: Cowboys of the Silver Screen. A block of four stamps that commemorates the popular cowboys on film including William S. Hart (1864-1946), Tom Mix (1880-1940), Gene Autry (1907-1998) and Roy Rogers (1911-1998).
  • May 1: Kate Smith. The singer (1907-1986), who is best known for her rendition of “God Bless America" is commemorated on this stamp issue.
  • May 12: Katharine Hepburn. The latest installment to the Legends of Hollywood series honors one of the silver screen’s greatest actresses whose career spanned over 40 films, including such classics as “The Philadelphia Story,” “The African Queen” and “Pat and Mike.” Hepburn (1907-2003) won four Best Actress Oscars for “Morning Glory,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Lion In Winter” and “On Golden Pond.”
  • May 17: Monarch Butterfly. This stamp featuring a monarch butterfly can be used for mailing large greeting cards.
  • June: Negro Leagues Baseball. This se-tenant pair honors the famous Negro Leagues, which happened at a time when major league baseball was segregated before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. One of the stamps honors Rube Foster (1879-1930), the founder of the Negro National League.
  • June 22: Oscar Micheaux. The Black Heritage series will get its 33rd stamp issue spotlighting the African-American filmmaker. Micheaux received a Directors Guild of America award posthumously in 1986.
  • July: Sunday Funnies. Five stamps highlighting the popular Sunday comic strips “Beetle Bailey,” “Dennis the Menace,” “Garfield,” “Archie” and “Calvin and Hobbes.”
  • July 27: Scouting. This commemorative stamp features a silhouette of a scout with binoculars above another image of a scout in the outdoors.
  • August: Hawaiian Rain Forest. This stamp pane is the latest addition to the Nature of America series.
  • August 12: Winslow Homer. The great American artist (1836-1910) is honored as part of the American Treasures series through his 1874 painting “Boys in a Pasture.”
  • September: Julia de Burgos. The influential Puerto Rican poet (1917-1953) is the 26th subject in the Literary Arts series.
  • October: Holiday Evergreens and Angel with Lute. These holiday-themed issues consist of a block of four stamps depicting evergreens; and a single traditional stamp featuring a painting by Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494).

Stamp Release Date to be Announced

  • Mother Teresa. The Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1910-1997) is one of the few people not born in the U.S. to be commemorated on an American stamp. (President Clinton awarded her an honorary U.S. citizenship in 1996). Mother Teresa was best known for her humanitarian work on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged.

Source: USPS press release.