U.S. Flag — Four Seasons 2013 (Coil) Forever Stamps – Coil of 100

From the heights of sunny summer to the snowy depths of winter, Old Glory proudly waves — thanks to laws and traditions that encourage respect for our vital national symbol. Guidelines for the display and treatment of the American flag hark back to the National Flag Code adopted in 1923 at the National Flag Conference and amended a year later. A federal law in 1942 further provided specific rules for using and displaying the flag.

Each of these four A Flag For All Seasons stamps shows an American flag, viewed from below, flying from a pole at full staff against a background of trees that evoke one of the four seasons of the year. Federal law states that the American flag should be displayed every day of the year, but especially on federal and state holidays, the “birthdays” of states, and other days according to presidential proclamation.

As long as a flag is a durable, all-weather flag, it may be displayed outdoors throughout the year, regardless of the weather. The stamp art, gouache on illustration board, is the work of Laura Stutzman, who used her personal photographs of the flag as art reference. The art director was Phil Jordan. These stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce rate.

Art Director Phil Jordan Phil Jordan grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, and attended East Carolina University. After Army service in Alaska, he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in visual communications. He worked in advertising and in design at a trade association before joining Beveridge and Associates, Inc., where he provided art direction for corporate, institutional, and government design projects.

A partner in the firm, he left after 18 years to establish his own design firm where he managed projects for USAir, NASA, McGraw-Hill, IBM, and Smithsonian Books, among others. He was Design Director of Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine for 15 years. His work appeared in numerous exhibitions and publications such as Graphis and Communications Arts . A past president of the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, he was an art director for the U.S. Postal Service from 1991 to 2014.

A resident of Falls Church, Virginia, he is a retired glider pilot and a member of the Skyline Soaring Club.

Mailing use: a Forever stamp covers a standard U.S. First-Class Mail letter up to 1 oz. Heavier, larger, square or rigid envelopes need extra postage. Five sheets in this listing total 100 stamps.

Supplied as five sealed sheets in original packaging – genuine, uncancelled U.S. postage. Ships flat from our U.S. warehouse in five to seven business days, free, with a 30-day guarantee.