With this 2013 stamp, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln signed on January 1, 1863. Lincoln’s proclamation, issued nearly two years into the Civil War, declared that all slaves in the rebel states of the Confederacy “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

The stamp art uses that powerful statement, “Henceforward Shall Be Free,” on a design evocative of broadsides from the Civil War era.

Lincoln believed the Emancipation Proclamation, potentially applying to several million African-American slaves in the South, was the “central act of my administration, and the great event of the nineteenth century.” According to many historians, only the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States have had as great an impact on human life and liberty for so many.

One provision of the proclamation authorized enlisting African Americans in the Union army. Some 180,000 blacks subsequently joined the army, and nearly 40,000 gave their lives fighting for freedom.

Art director Antonio Alcalá worked with graphic designer Gail Anderson to produce this important commemorative stamp, one of a civil rights set being issued in 2013.

The Emancipation Proclamation stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Evoking the romance of a bygone era, the Sealed with Love stamp expresses the joy and beauty of handwritten love letters. The stamp art depicts an envelope fastened with an elegant wax seal. The seal, in shades of red, is a small heart enclosed inside a larger heart, both surrounded by a graceful filigree circle. The exquisite delicacy of the stamp art invites us to send our own love letters, a romantic gesture that never goes out of style.

The Victorians were ardent letter writers and believed that there was a proper way to compose letters, particularly love letters. Etiquette manuals aided Victorian romantics in penning appropriate letters to their beloveds. While these books reflected the Victorian obsession with propriety, the senders still wished to make their feelings known, and there was a precise etiquette for using sealing wax. Although today red is the color most associated with passion, in the mid-1800s, blue was the color of love, with wax of various shades denoting the degree of emotion felt by the sender.

Graphic designer Louise Fili worked with art director Derry Noyes on this stamp. Jessica Hische was the illustrator.

The Sealed with Love stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

It’s good to welcome the New Year with a bang! A bundle of firecrackers—colored red for luck—highlight the U.S. Postal Service’s 2013 Year of the Snake stamp, sixth in the Celebrating Lunar New Year series. The Year of the Snake begins on February 10, 2013, and ends on January 30, 2014.

Across many cultures, in the United States as elsewhere, the Lunar New Year is celebrated in various ways, often with parades and parties. Firecrackers are traditionally used to scare off evil spirits and welcome this time of renewed hope for the future. Lucky foods are eaten—kumquats, for example (issued in 2011)—and given as gifts. Festive lanterns, colored red for luck (issued in 2008), are common decorations at Lunar New Year celebrations, where they are frequently hung in rows.

Combining original artwork by Kam Mak with two elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps—Clarence Lee’s intricate paper-cut design of a snake and the Chinese character for “Snake,” drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun—art director Ethel Kessler has created a culturally rich stamp design that celebrates the diversity of the American experience.

The Year of the Snake stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 12. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

In 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks courageously refused to give up her seat on a municipal bus to a white man, defying the discriminatory laws of the time. The U.S. Postal Service is proud to honor the life of this extraordinary American activist who became an iconic figure in the civil rights movement.

The stamp art, a gouache painting on illustration board, is a portrait of Parks emphasizing her quiet strength. A 1950s photograph served as the basis for the stamp portrait.

The response to Parks’s arrest was a boycott of the Montgomery bus system that lasted for more than a year and became an international cause célèbre. In 1956, in a related case, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that segregating Montgomery buses was unconstitutional.

Soon after the boycott ended, Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan. She joined the 1963 march on Washington and returned to Alabama in 1965 to join the march from Selma to Montgomery. The many honors Parks received in her lifetime include the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1966), the Spingarn Medal (1979), and the Congressional Gold Medal (1999). Upon her death in 2005, she became the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.

Artist Thomas Blackshear II created an original painting for the stamp, which was designed by art director Derry Noyes.

The stamp honoring Rosa Parks is one of three stamps in the civil rights set celebrating freedom, courage, and equality being issued in 2013. It is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

In 2013, the U.S. Postal Service introduces Global Forever®, a new international rate stamp. The Global Forever stamp offers a single price for any First-Class Mail International 1-ounce letter to any country in the world. For the January 27, 2013, price change, the Global Forever stamp may also be used to mail a 2-ounce letter to Canada.

This stamp features a rendering of Earth composed of images created from satellite data and redesigned with 3D computer technology. The view of our planet shows the Atlantic Ocean flanked by the Americas, Africa, and part of northern Europe. In the stamp art, the globe is isolated on a white background. The shape of the stamp is round. The text, which surrounds the image of Earth, includes the words “Global Forever.”

Italian artist Leonello Calvetti used a variety of maps, primarily from NASA, to create his design. With 3D computer technology he was able to modify depth, vary color, and create subtle light and shadow details on terrain surfaces to achieve a high level of photorealism while also attaining something new. “I always have been fascinated by space and what astronauts could see from out there,” Calvetti says. “As an artist, an illustrator, I wanted to make my own representation of the Earth.”

Art director William J. Gicker selected this depiction of Earth by Calvetti. Greg Breeding designed the stamp.

The Global Forever stamps are being issued in self-adhesive sheets of 20 at the $1.10 rate, or $22.00 per sheet.

The spectacular spicebush swallowtail butterfly graces the third butterfly stamp for use on large greeting card envelopes.

The stamp art was created on a computer, using images of preserved butterflies as a starting point. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of a spicebush swallowtail rather than an exact replica.

Both as caterpillars and adults, spicebush swallowtails hide from their predators in plain sight. They do this by mimicking other animals and even inedible objects. When very young, the brown and white caterpillar resembles a bird dropping. The caterpillar later morphs into what looks like a small green snake, with yellow and black markings that resemble a snake’s eyes and a false forked tongue. The butterfly’s chrysalis mimics a dried brown leaf, complete with veins.

Nationally known artist Tom Engeman worked with art director Derry Noyes on this design.

The square format of the stamp was developed in partnership with the greeting card industry to indicate that this stamp may be used for square envelopes weighing up to and including one ounce. Greeting card envelopes printed with a silhouette of a butterfly indicate the need for an additional 20 cents postage--or the use of this butterfly stamp. The butterfly stamp may also be used to mail envelopes with irregular sizes and shapes.

Though seemingly small, these three words hold enormous meaning, marking the beginning of two lives joined together in love. The Yes, I Do stamp is a charming and romantic addition to the U.S. Postal Service’s Weddings series, adding a festive yet elegant flair to wedding correspondence.

With the words “Yes, I Do” nestled in a colorful bouquet of stylized flowers in the shape of a heart, this stamp is sure to add a touch of beauty to wedding invitations. The stamp will be issued at the two-ounce mailing rate to accommodate the heavier weight of an invitation, as well as other mailings such as oversized cards or small gifts that require extra postage.

The stamp was art directed by Ethel Kessler and designed by Michael Osborne.

The Yes, I Do stamps are being issued in self-adhesive sheets of 20 at the 2-ounce rate.

One of the first and greatest stars of Tejano music, Lydia Mendoza (1916-2007) is seen strumming her 12-string guitar on this lively stamp, one of several that inaugurates the Music Icons series.

This square stamp captures the look of a vintage 45-rpm record sleeve, down to a slight weathering away of the colors. The stamp art features a black-and-white publicity photo of Mendoza taken in the 1950s. The flag of Texas, Mendoza’s home state, is splashed across the photo, its vertical blue bar and horizontal red stripe providing the stamp’s only color.

Nicknamed La Alondra de la Frontera, the Lark of the Border, Lydia Mendoza performed the Spanish-language music of the Texas-Mexico borderlands and beyond. She is best known for her solo performances, her soulful voice accompanied only by the playing of her 12-string guitar. Mendoza recorded more than a thousand songs in a career that spanned seven decades. Through her music, she gave a voice not only to the poor and working-class people of the border, but also to Latinos throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Born into a musical family, Mendoza first performed with her mother, father, and sister in stores and restaurants. After winning a singing contest on the radio, she recorded several solo cuts for Bluebird Records in 1934, including “Mal Hombre” or “Evil Man,” which went on to become her biggest hit.

Neal Ashby and Patrick Donohue designed the stamp, working with art director Antonio Alcalá.

The Lydia Mendoza stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

With tufts of bright yellow feathers springing from its head, the tufted puffin looks like a clown to some and a punk rocker to others. Two of these unmistakable sea birds appear on the Tufted Puffins stamp, depicted during breeding season when their signature yellow plumage appears.

Tufted puffins can be found along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Alaska. They hunt underwater, diving as deep as 200 feet and using their wings to propel themselves through the water. True creatures of the sea, they even eat underwater, and spend much of their lives on the open ocean. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp, which features a painting by artist Robert Giusti.

The scenic Arlington Green Bridge in Bennington County, Vermont, takes center stage in this Priority Mail stamp. One of the most-photographed covered bridges in the state, it was built in 1852.

The digital stamp art depicts the red wooden bridge against a backdrop of autumn leaves. On the far side of the bridge, a white church steeple rises from a traditional village green. The bridge spans the Batten Kill trout stream in Arlington, just off Route 313 in southern Vermont. Although it stretches 80 feet across the stream, the bridge’s roadbed is only wide enough to allow one lane of traffic to rumble over its wooden planks at a time.

Designed by Derry Noyes, the stamp showcases a digital illustration created by artist Dan Cosgrove.

As universal symbols of love and happiness, flowers are often the centerpiece of our most sacred ceremonies and cheerful occasions. With a splash of color and a beautiful bouquet, the Where Dreams Blossom stamp adds a fun and contemporary flair to all kinds of correspondence.

With a stylized bouquet of flowers similar to the design of the 2013 two-ounce Yes, I Do wedding stamp, Where Dreams Blossom is perfect for any occasion, including for use on save-the-date notices, response cards, and thank-you notes. It can also be used for cards and letters sent to celebrate other joyous moments and to deliver comfort and encouragement. As an unknown author observed, “Hopes are planted in friendship’s garden where dreams blossom into priceless treasures.”

The stamp was art directed by Ethel Kessler and designed by Michael Osborne.

The Where Dreams Blossom stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

With this illustration of a red, white, and blue striped star, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates American patriotism. The star is one of the nation’s quintessential symbols, a shining reminder of our indomitable spirit. “When I go out of doors in the summer night, and see how high the stars are,” wrote 19th-century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, “I am persuaded that there is time enough, here or somewhere, for all that I must do.”

The Patriotic Star stamp features a red, white, and blue five-pointed star on a white background. The star on the stamp is actually two stars—a smaller one inside a larger one. Both have five points, like the stars on the American flag.

Created digitally by artist Nancy Stahl, the star is designed to look like it is crafted from striped ribbon. Greg Breeding served as the art director on the project.

To accommodate business use, the Patriotic Star is being issued as a First-Class Rate Large Coil stamp in coils of 3,000 and 10,000. At the time of issuance, the Patriotic Star stamps are being sold at a price of 46 cents each, or $1,380 (for a coil of 3,000) or $4,600 (for a coil of 10,000).

A beloved New York City landmark turns one hundred years old in 2013, and the U.S. Postal Service is celebrating with the Grand Central Terminal issuance. The train station officially opened on February 2, 1913, and was soon recognized as one of the most majestic public spaces in the world.

The stamp art captures the grandeur of this architectural masterpiece with an illustration of the main concourse. Early morning sunlight streams through the 60-foot-tall windows, illuminating the people below. In the foreground, travelers gather near the station’s round information booth topped with its four-sided clock. The edges of the terminal’s famous sky ceiling can be seen at the top of the stamp art, its background of robin’s egg blue decorated with a mural of constellations and figures of the Zodiac.

The graphic illustration was created by artist Dan Cosgrove, working with art director Phil Jordan. Grand Central Terminal is being issued at the Express Mail rate.

With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates 150 years of West Virginia statehood. Admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, West Virginia is one of only two new states created during the war and the only one created by separation from a Confederate state. Located entirely within the Appalachian Highlands, West Virginia is now known as the Mountain State. Its official motto reflects the realities of topography as well as its individualistic spirit: montani semper liberi, “mountaineers are always free.”

The stamp features a photograph by West Virginia photographer Roger Spencer showing an early morning view looking east from the Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150) in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, within Monongahela National Forest.

Today, nearly 1.9 million people call West Virginia home. With coal as the state’s most abundant natural resource, around 30,000 West Virginians work in the coal-mining industry, helping to produce more than one-tenth of the country’s supply, and the natural gas and oil industries, while less visible, are essential. In keeping with the current state slogan, “Wild and Wonderful,” tourism is also vital to the West Virginia economy, with mountains and rugged wilderness drawing visitors from across the country and around the world for hunting, fishing, skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting.

The photograph on this stamp was taken in October 2008. Greg Breeding served as art director.

With features like optional twin racing stripes, the 1970 Chevelle SS looked fierce. SS stood for Super Sport, a fitting designation for the car, which had serious power. A 396-cubic-inch engine was available, but a 454-cubic-inch engine option gave the 1970 Chevelle SS credibility among muscle car enthusiasts. Two versions of the 454 engine were available: the 360-horsepower LS-5 and the 450-horsepower LS-6. For its sheer power, the latter has become legendary among car buffs.

The LS-6-propelled 1970 Chevelle SS was lightning quick. It finished in the 13-second range in quarter-mile tests. Optional Cowl Induction, a flap on the bulged hood that allowed cold air to flow into the engine, added even more kick. In addition to its impressive road performance, the 1970 Chevelle SS was also known for its unique style. Available as a coupe or a convertible, the 1970 Chevelle SS featured a black grille and SS emblems on both the grille and the rear bumper.

The outrageously styled 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was designed to dominate on the racetrack. The car, which underwent wind-tunnel testing before its release, took the checkered flag at its NASCAR debut in September 1969 at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega. The production version of the car was powered by a standard 440-cubic-inch, 375-horsepower Magnum engine. A limited number of Daytonas were also available with a 426-cubic-inch Hemi, a race-inspired engine Chrysler introduced earlier that decade. (Chrysler first used a version of the Hemi — a high-performance engine with hemispherical combustion chambers — in automobiles in the 1950s.)

Concealed headlights, fender-mounted scoops, a nearly two-foot tall, rear-mounted wing, and an 18-inch nose piece helped boost aerodynamics. Other signature touches were thick body stripes containing the word “DAYTONA.” The distinctive vehicles were not easy to come by. In order to qualify for NASCAR racing, at least 500 Daytonas had to be made available for purchase. Only 503 were produced.

The 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda, a performance-oriented alter-ego of the standard 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, oozed power. The car’s 426-cubic-inch Hemi engine was a 425-horsepower beast. The car was part of what Plymouth called “The Rapid Transit System.” The 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda was “our angriest, slipperiest-looking body shell wrapped around ol’ King Kong hisself,” one advertisement bellowed.

One of the 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda’s more audacious features was a Shaker hood scoop, which vibrated as air flowed through to the engine’s two four-barrel carburetors. The car’s styling was an extension of its bold ethos. It was available in a variety of eye-popping color choices, such as Lemon Twist, Lime Light, and Vitamin C. Hockey-stick shaped stripes denoting engine size, a shifter handle shaped like a pistol grip, and bucket seats were also offered. The model is also a rare specimen: Fewer than 700 were produced.

The Pontiac GTO ushered in the American muscle-car era in the mid-1960s, just as the baby boomers began to come of age. The first GTO was born when engineers dropped a 389-cubic-inch V8 engine, which was built for a full-size sedan, into an intermediate-size Pontiac Tempest LeMans. Initially offered simply as an option on the Tempest LeMans, the GTO — which in Italian stood for Gran Turismo Omologato, or in English, Grand Touring Homologated — became its own model in 1966.

Available as a hardtop, coupe, or convertible, the 1966 Pontiac GTO was equipped with a standard 335-horsepower V8 engine. The “Goat” could really move; in tests, it went from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6.8 seconds. It also looked much different than its predecessors. Starting in 1966, the car featured curvy styling and a split grille. That model year, sales of the distinctive GTO peaked.

Manufacturer Carroll Shelby’s take on the Ford Mustang reflected his roots as a racecar driver. The 1967 Shelby GT-500 was powered by a 428-cubic-inch, 355-horsepower Police Interceptor engine. The car also featured a rear spoiler and optional dealer-installed LeMans stripes. Rocker panel stripes came standard on the 1967 Shelby GT-500, which also sported grille-mounted headlights. A scooped fiberglass hood, extended nose, and interior roll bar and shoulder harnesses further enhanced the racecar feel.

The 1967 Shelby GT-500 was more than just a racer. The improved suspension softened the ride, resulting in a vehicle that was comfortable to drive on the highway as well as on the track. The car was both striking and rare; only 2,048 were built. A customized or original version of the 1967 Shelby GT-500 has appeared in contemporary movies and magazines, rekindling American pop culture’s fascination with the model. In 2007, Ford reintroduced the Shelby GT-500 into the Mustang model lineup.

Vote for your favorite Muscle Cars stamp at facebook.com/USPSstamps & view offerings to pre-order now!

Johnny Cash (1932–2003) is best remembered internationally as a country music artist, but we feel his influence just about everywhere—from rock and folk to blues and gospel. His stamp is being issued this year as part of the exciting new Music Icons stamp series.

Resembling the appearance of a 45 rpm record sleeve, the square stamp features a photograph taken by Frank Bez during the photo session for Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963). In the photo, Cash stares out at the viewer through a veil of shadow, his brooding expression fitting for an artist known to so many people simply as “the Man in Black.”

Cash found inspiration for his music in the stories of outlaws and laborers, and in his own life experience. A child of the Depression, he grew up in rural Arkansas, and the culture of that time and place—especially the Bible and gospel and country music—remained with him all his life. Themes of redemption, loneliness, love, loss, and death colored his music with a gritty realism that differed markedly from other socially conscious popular music. “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” he sings famously in “Folsom Prison Blues.”

By the 1960s, Cash had become one of the top names in country music, with a string of hits that included “Cry, Cry, Cry,” “I Walk the Line,” and the Grammy award-winning “A Boy Named Sue.” Though his popularity waned in the 1970s and 1980s, Cash made a remarkable resurgence in the 1990s, culminating in several more Grammy awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Greg Breeding served as art director and designer for the stamp.

The Johnny Cash stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

The 36th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Althea Gibson (1927–2003), a pioneering tennis player who became the first black Wimbledon champion. The tall, lean Gibson was fast, had a long reach, and relied on a booming serve and precise volleys. She blazed a trail for a future generation of African-American players, such as Arthur Ashe and sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

The oil-on-wood painting featured on the stamp is based on a photograph—taken at Wimbledon—of Gibson bending down to hit a low volley. The first black tennis player to win one of the four major singles tournaments, Gibson helped integrate her sport at the height of the civil rights movement. She twice won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships (now known as the U.S. Open) and became the top-ranked player in the world.

Designed by Derry Noyes, the stamp features the artwork of Kadir Nelson.

The Althea Gibson stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

The War of 1812, sometimes called “the forgotten conflict,” was a two-and-a-half-year confrontation with Great Britain that brought the United States to the verge of bankruptcy and disunion. With this 2013 issuance, the U.S. Postal Service continues its commemoration of the bicentennial of a war that ultimately helped forge our national identity and gave us our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The stamp’s subject for the second year of the war is the Battle of Lake Erie, which took place on September 10, 1813. For the stamp design, the Postal Service selected William Henry Powell’s famous painting, Battle of Lake Erie. The oil-on-canvas painting, completed in 1873, was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and placed at the head of the east stairway in the Senate wing of the Capitol. It depicts Oliver Hazard Perry in the small boat he used to transfer from his ruined flagship, the Lawrence, to the Niagara.

To evoke the times, the color and texture of a contemporary map of the war is used for the stamp sheet’s background. A 19th-century engraving of Perry by William G. Jackman (after John Wesley Jarvis) appears in the margin of the verso text.

After boarding and taking command of the Niagara, Perry attacked and demolished the British ships Detroit and Queen Charlotte. He then penned one of the most memorable phrases of the war in a report to General William Henry Harrison: "We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

Perry’s triumph gave the U.S. control of Lake Erie and allowed the army to recover ground lost early in the war. The British and their Indian allies abandoned their outposts on the Detroit frontier and retreated up the Thames River deeper into Upper Canada. General Harrison pursued them and won the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813, less than a month after Perry’s remarkable victory.

Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp.

The War of 1812: Battle of Lake Erie stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

The U.S. Postal Service proudly honors inspiring musician Ray Charles with a stamp, one of several that inaugurates the Music Icons series. This extraordinary composer, singer, and pianist, blind since childhood, went beyond category, blending blues, gospel, country, jazz, and soul music in a unique and highly influential pop music style. His many hits included “I’ve Got a Woman,” “Georgia on My Mind,” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

The stamp art features an image of Charles, taken later in his career, by photographer Yves Carrère. The stamp sheet was designed to evoke the appearance of a 45 rpm single peeking out of a record sleeve above the stamps themselves. On the reverse side, the sheet includes a larger version of the photograph featured in the stamp art as well as the logo for the Music Icons series.

Looking back over the course of his long career, there seemed to be little Charles couldn’t do. His work spanned almost the entire breadth of American music and brought him 17 Grammy Awards, plus an award for lifetime achievement in 1987. His many other prizes include the National Medal of Arts, awarded in 1993, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986. That same year, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He performed at the White House many times for several different presidents.

Art director Ethel Kessler worked on the stamp sheet with designer Neal Ashby. The Ray Charles stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.