USPS celebrates Day of the Dead with four colorful new stamps

USPS celebrates Day of the Dead with four colorful new stamps

San Antonio Postmaster Robert D. Carr, Jr., dedicated the Day of the Dead Forever Stamps during a special stamp event at Centro Cultural Aztlan on October 1, along with Malena Gonzalez-Cid, executive director of the center.

In recent decades, Día de los Muertos, as it is known in Spanish, has caught on in the United States as a festive celebration for all ages. These new stamps from the U.S. Postal Service showcase the Day of the Dead holiday, in all its flower-bedecked splendor.

The stamps feature several iconic elements of a traditional Day of the Dead offering. Stylized, decorated “sugar skulls” are personalized as family members — a child with a hair bow, a father sporting a hat and mustache, a mother with curled hair, and another child. The vibrant colors of marigold flowers and other embellishments, along with the white of the sugar skulls, stand out brightly from the stamps’ black background.

Centro Cultural Aztlan is a fitting backdrop for presentation of the Day of the Dead Forever stamps, as they were the first group in San Antonio to organize an annual Día de los Muertos celebration, holding their 44th in 2021. Guests also had the opportunity to catch a first glimpse of this year’s Dia de los Muertos Altares y Ofrendas exhibits, created by community members and local artists that include: Hector Garza, Liz Hernandez, Don Nunez, Henry De Leon and the Negrete family.

The new stamps were designed and illustrated by artist Luis Fitch. Antonio Alcalá was the art director. The stamps are the first of their kind to be issued by the United States Postal Service to mark this annual cultural celebration.

These special edition stamps and postcards were available for sale during the event.

Centro Cultural Aztlan was founded in 1977 with a vision to build upon the traditions of Chicano/a, Latino/a, and indigenous peoples by creating cultural programs that involve local artists and increase public awareness of their work. It continues to serve this mission through commitment to preserving and promoting Chicano/a, Latino/a, and indigenous arts and culture, and through commitment to diversity, education, and promotion of local artists.