Day of the Dead Stamps

In recent decades. with the release of these four new Day of the Dead stamps. Day of the Dead has caught on in the United States as a festive and increasingly popular celebration for all ages. These new stamps will be the first issued by the U.S. Postal Service to mark this holiday. Luis Fitch designed and illustrated the stamps. Antonio Alcalá was the art director.

Stamps Pattern

Each of the pane’s five identical rows includes four colorful stamps featuring several iconic elements of a traditional Day of the Dead ofrenda. or offering. Stylized. decorated sugar skulls are personalized as four family members. one per stamp: a child with a hair bow. a father sporting a hat and mustache. a mother with curled hair. and another child. The lit candles flanking each sugar skull are beacons to guide deceased loved ones on their annual return journey to the land of the living. Dotting each stamp and adorning their shared vertical borders are marigolds (cempazuchitles). the most popular Day of the Dead flower. The vibrant colors of the flowers and other embellishments. along with the white of the sugar skulls. stand out brightly from the stamps’ black background.

Source of Stamps

With roots in pre-Columbian Latin America. Dia de Los Muertos resulted from the meeting of Indigenous traditions and practices introduced by the Catholic missionaries who arrived with the Spanish colonizers in the late 1500s. The modern version of the holiday rose out of the activism of the 1970s when Chicano artists in California saw it as a way to build pride in Mexican culture.

Today hundreds of thousands of Americans from all walks of life flock to celebrations hosted each November by museums. galleries. and community centers. They are drawn by the exuberant processions. skeleton costumes and face painting. music. dancing. special food. and arts-and-crafts workshops. and by the ofrendas honoring not only departed family members but also heroes and celebrities.

It is no wonder that the Day of the Dead. with all its exuberant color. life-affirming joy. and appeal for the whole family. is fast becoming a popular American holiday.

Luis Fitch designed and illustrated the stamps. Antonio Alcalá was the art director.

The Day of the Dead stamps is being issued as Forever® stamps.

These U.S. Post Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce rate.

Shipping Info

The Forever Stamp Store® ships all in-stock orders with First-Class Mail Tracking® service. Please allow 4-6 business days (preparation time not included) for in-stock items to be shipped with Default Shipping or 1-2 business days for in-stock orders to be shipped with Priority Mail Express® service.

It normally takes 1 business day for us to process your order. Forever Stamp Store® products are all new. and products are rigorously inspected before being shipped. If there is any damage during the shipping process. please contact us promptly for replacement.