This Album Created for Free Use in the Public Domain. American Philatelic Society©2020
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2020 U.S. STAMPS This album created for free use in the public domain. American Philatelic Society©2020 www.stamps.org 2020 United States Postage Stamps Year of the Rat Big Bend January 11 January 18 The new Forever stamp celebrating the Year of the Rat, This Priority Express Mail stamp celebrates the remote features a rat mask and incorporates elements with and stunningly beautiful Big Bend regions. The stamp symbolic meaning. The rat is the first of the 12 zodiac art depicts one of the Big Bend’s iconic scenes: The Rio animal signs associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. Grande flowing between the sheer limestone cliffs of Those born during the Year of the Rat may be seen as Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. The Big very clever, self-aware and highly social. The Year of the Bend is named for the Rio Grande’s sudden left turn that Rat began Jan. 25, 2020, and ended Feb. 11, 2021. The makes the right-angles “V” in the contour of West Texas Year of the Rat stamp is the first stamp in the third series at the U.S.- Mexico border. The region is cradled within of celebrating Lunar New Year. The first series ran from this “big bend” where a visitor finds rare solitude, endless 1992 to 2005 and the second series from 2008 to 2019. beauty, and some the nation’s best stargazing. Designed The Year of the Rat stamp was sold in panes of 20. Art by art director Greg Breeding, the stamp featured a director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original digital illustration created by Dan Cosgrove. artwork by Camille Chew. Grand Island Ice Cave Made of Hearts January 18 January 23 This Priority Mail Express stamp celebrates one of nature’s The art for this latest stamp in the Love series features amazing winter spectacles. During the winter, parts of horizontal rows of red and pink hearts on a white the Great Lakes become a wonderland of ice. Particularly background. Toward the center, red hearts in varying impressive ice formations happen on Grand Island in sizes replace pink hearts in a formation that creates one Lake Superior. This stamp art features an illustration of large red heart, the focal point of this graphic design. The how one of these ever-changing ice caves might appear connection between sentiment and the heart symbol is from the inside looking out toward the west at sunset. at least as old as the ancient Greeks. Today, the heart is With the shoreline of the mainland visible on the universally understood to symbolize devotion, affection, horizon, the sun’s rays are reflected in the pink-hued ice and love. Antonio Alcala designed the stamp and was art along the floor of the cave’s entrance. The ice formations director for this project. that resemble stalactites are rendered in various shades of blue, green, and while. Artist Dan Cosgrove created the initial pencil sketch and finished the stamp digitally. Descriptions furnished by the United States Postal Service 2020 U.S. Issues Page – 2 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 United States Postage Stamps Big Bend January 18 Year of the Rat January 11 Grand Island Ice Cave Made of Hearts January 18 January 23 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 U.S. Issues Page –3 2020 United States Postage Stamps Gwen Ifill Presorted Star January 30 February 3 The 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors A patriotic star design is featured on these Presorted Star Gwen Ifill (1955-2016), one of America’s most esteemed coil stamps. These 10-cent standard, mail-use stamps journalists. She was among the first African Americans were printed in a coil of 3,000. to hold prominent positions in both broadcast and print journalism. She was the first woman and First African American to moderate a major news-analysis, first African-American female journalist to moderate a vice-presidential debate, and became part of the first all- female team to anchor a daily national news show, PBS NewsHour. The stamp art features a photo of Ifill taken in 2008 by photographer Robert Severi. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp. Let’s Celebrate Wild Orchids February 14 February 21 The new Celebrate stamp will help send cheer to those Wild Orchids celebrates the exotic beauty of orchids deserving well wishes, no matter the occasion. The stamp with ten new stamps in booklets of 20 and coils of features an array of colorful circles in varying sizes 3,000 and 10,000. Each stamp features a photograph arranged in a random pattern. The letters in the word, of one of nine species that grow wild in the United “celebrate,” cast in a dark green hue, appear inside several States: Cypripedium californicum, Hexalectris spicata, brightly colored circles. Art director Antonio Alcala Cypripedium reginae, Spiranthes odorata, Triphora designed the stamp. trianthophoros, Platanthera grandiflora, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum, Calopogon tuberosus and Platanthera leucophaea. Orchids also have common names, with some plants having several different names in popular use. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with existing photographs by Jim Fowler. Descriptions furnished by the United States Postal Service 2020 U.S. Issues Page – 4 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 United States Postage Stamps Presorted Star Gwen Ifill February 3 January 30 Let’s Celebrate February 14 Wild Orchids February 21 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 U.S. Issues Page –5 2020 United States Postage Stamps Arnold Palmer Maine Statehood March 4 March 15 This stamp honors champion golfer Arnold Palmer This stamp celebrates the 200th anniversary of Maine’s (1929–2016). With drive and charisma, he helped statehood. Nicknamed the Pine Tree State, Maine became transform a game once seen as a pastime for the elite into the 23rd state in the Union on March 15,1820. American a sport enjoyed by the masses. The stamp features James painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was among the Drake’s action photograph of Palmer at the 1964 United many prominent artists who sought the tranquility States Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, of the state’s coastal towns during the summer. His MD. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp. painting “Sea at Ogunquit” (1914) captures the rugged beauty characteristic of Maine. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp. Garden Corsage Contemporary Boutonniere April 2 April 2 The Postal Service introduces Garden Corsage, a new Contemporary Boutonniere is a new Forever stamp 2-ounce stamp. This stamp can accommodate the similar in design to the new 2-ounce Garden Corsage weight of heavy invitations for birthdays, weddings, stamp. It can be used for wedding RSVP cards and anniversaries and other celebrations, oversize greeting is also perfect for party invitations, thank-you notes, cards for all occasions, and mailings such as small announcements, birthday cards, Father’s Day cards and gifts that require extra postage. The stamp features a other occasions when a beautiful stamp is fitting. The photograph of a corsage containing a spray of peach roses stamp features a photograph of an arrangement of a and a pink ranunculus, accented with deep-pink heather burgundy mini-cymbidium orchid bloom, a succulent and seeded eucalyptus. A cream-colored lace ribbon and a touch of green hydrangea, accented with loops of entwines the flowers. Garden Corsage is similar in design variegated lily grass. These materials are on trend for to the Contemporary Boutonniere Forever stamp, and today’s modern designs, as arranged by floral designer the two form a natural pair. The corsage was arranged Carol Caggiano and photographed by Renée Comet. Art by floral designer Carol Caggiano and photographed by director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp. Renée Comet. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp. Descriptions furnished by the United States Postal Service 2020 U.S. Issues Page – 6 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 United States Postage Stamps Maine Statehood March 15 Arnold Palmer March 4 Garden Corsage April 2 Contemporary Boutonniere April 2 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org 2020 U.S. Issues Page –7 2020 United States Postage Stamps Earth Day Global Chrysanthemum April 18 April 24 Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the The new Global forever stamp features a beautiful Postal Service issues a stamp featuring a playful painting pink chrysanthemum. The photograph, shot from of the planet, with small green lines surrounding Earth above, shows the intricate design of the flower’s and hand- lettered text. Art director Antonio Alcalá bloom. Known as the “Queen of the Fall Flowers,” was the stamp artist and designer. Ricky Altizer was mums (as they are popularly called) are on the the typographer. America’s favorite container plants. Chrysanthemum flowers come in many colors, including lime green, bronze, rust, maroon, white, yellow and purple. In the U.S. , mums are November’s birth flower and they are the official flower of Chicago. This Global forever stamp can be used to mail a one-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mail International service is available. The art director was William J. Gicker. Greg Breeding designed the stamp with an existing photograph by Hong Vo. American Gardens May 13 With these stamps the Postal Service celebrates the beauty of American gardens. This pane of 20 stamps features ten different photographs of botanic, country estate and municipal gardens taken between 1996 and 2014. The gardens include: Biltmore Estate Gardens (North Carolina); Brooklyn Botanic Garden (New York); Chicago Botanic Garden (Illinois); Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Maine); Dumbarton Oaks Garden (District of Columbia); The Huntington Botanical Gardens (California); Alfred B.