USPS Unveils 2027 Stamp Themes Ranging From Sports Icons To Mythical Creatures

The United States Postal Service announced on Monday the themes for its stamp portfolio in 2027. The upcoming releases will feature athletic legends, mythological beings, and specific vegetable varieties. The agency also plans to issue a semipostal stamp to fund biomedical research for pediatric cancer.

Sports figures Pat Summitt and Willie Mays will be honored in the 2027 lineup. Summitt, who coached the University of Tennessee women's basketball team for 38 years, is recognized for accumulating more than 1,000 victories and eight national championships. Her stamp design features an oil portrait on prepared linen. Roberto Parada created the artwork, while Ethel Kessler, the USPS art director, designed the stamp.

Willie Mays will appear on the 50th stamp in the Postal Service's Black Heritage series. Mays played for the New York Giants and San Francisco Giants for 23 seasons. The design includes a portrait of Mays wearing a New York Giants cap. It also depicts his over-the-shoulder catch during the 1954 World Series. Antonio Alcalá, the USPS art director, created the design using photographs from Getty Images.

The 2027 portfolio includes several other thematic collections. A Lunar New Year stamp will mark the Year of the Goat. This will be the eighth stamp in the third series of Lunar New Year issues, a program that began in 2020. Camille Chew created paper cutout masks of the 12 zodiac animals for this series. Sally Andersen-Bruce provided the photograph of the goat mask used by Alcalá in the design.

A Love 2027 stamp will feature bright colors and simple geometric shapes. Artist Lisa Congdon designed the piece in a grid format. Greg Breeding served as the art director. The design draws inspiration from folk art symbolism and color palettes.

A sheet of 16 stamps will depict unicions in dreamy forest scenes. Kendra Binney created four distinct unicorn illustrations using mixed media, including watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and digital effects. Derry Noyes, the USPS art director, designed the stamps. Another issue titled Vegetables Forever will include 20 stamps. These feature close-up color photographs of 10 specific produce items, such as red onions, purple cabbage, and watermelon radish. Renée Comet took the photographs, and Kessler designed the stamps.

A Mythical Creatures collection will feature five different stamps. These depict creatures from American folklore, including Mothman, the Jackalope, the Squonk, Sasquatch, and Champ the Lake Monster. Mothman was first reported in West Virginia in 1966. The Jackalope legend originated in Wyoming in the 1930s when two taxidermist brothers created a horned rabbit. The Squonk appears in Pennsylvania lumberjack stories, while Sasquatch is associated with the Pacific Northwest. Champ is a legend from Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. Nat Power illustrated these figures using bold black lines and vibrant colors inspired by tattoo design. Alcalá designed the stamps.

A Halloween issue will feature illustrations of a vampire, witch, mummy, and Frankenstein's monster. Erick Martinez created these friendly and entertaining drawings. Alcalá handled the art direction. The final item in the announcement is the Cure Childhood Cancers semipostal stamp. Approximately 15,000 children and adolescents in the United States are diagnosed with cancer annually. This disease is the leading disease-related cause of death in children after infancy. The stamp will support biomedical research to improve survival rates and develop safer treatments. Net profits from the additional postage charge will be donated to the National Institutes of Health. Greg Breeding designed the stamp, and Chuck Styles provided the original illustration.

The Postal Service will release these stamps throughout the calendar year of 2027. The announcements cover both commemorative and regular issues. The agency confirmed the artists, photographers, and art directors involved in each specific design.