Holiday Stamp - Kwanzaa Stamp

Kwanzaa Stamp

Kwanzaa is a non-religious African-American festival which synthesizes and reinvents traditional African "first fruits" celebrations. 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. A second Kwanzaa stamp, a 37-cent self-adhesive value, was introduced on October 16, 2004 with a new design by Daniel Minter that was intended to convey "balanced formality with a celebratory, festive mood." This stamp has been reissued; the 2007 value was 41 cents.