USPS unveils 2027 stamp lineup featuring Willie Mays and Pat Summitt
The postal service announced themes for next year, which include a semipostal stamp for childhood cancer research and a series on mythical American creatures.
By Anthony Shevchenko ·
The United States Postal Service announced its stamp themes for 2027 on Monday. The lineup includes tributes to two major sports figures, a new series on mythical creatures, and a semipostal stamp dedicated to childhood cancer research.
Two prominent athletes will appear on 2027 stamps. Pat Summitt, who coached the Tennessee Lady Volunteers for 38 years, is honored for her record of more than 1,000 wins and eight national championships. The stamp features an oil on linen portrait created by artist Roberto Parada. Ethel Kessler, the USPS art director, designed the stamp.
Willie Mays, a Hall of Famer who played 23 seasons for the New York and San Francisco Giants, will be featured on the 50th stamp in the Black Heritage series. The design shows Mays wearing a New York Giants cap and depicts his famous over-the-shoulder catch during the 1954 World Series. Antonio Alcalá, a USPS art director, handled the design using photographs from Getty Images.
The postal service also plans to release stamps depicting unicorns, vegetables, and various mythical creatures. The unicorn set consists of a 16-stamp sheet with four distinct scenes. Artist Kendra Binney created these images using mixed media, including watercolor, acrylic paint, pencil, and digital effects. Derry Noyes, a USPS art director, designed the stamps.
A 20-stamp booklet will feature close-up color photographs of ten different vegetables. The subjects include red onion, Savoy cabbage, purple cabbage, purple cauliflower, shimeji mushrooms, purple asparagus, artichoke, Fairy Tale eggplant, rhubarb, and watermelon radish. Ethel Kessler designed the stamps using existing photographs by food photographer Renée Comet.
The mythical creatures collection includes five different stamps representing figures from American folklore. These include the Mothman from West Virginia, the Jackalope from Wyoming, the Squonk from Pennsylvania, Sasquatch from the Pacific Northwest, and Champ from Lake Champlain. Artist Nat Power illustrated these figures using bold black lines and vibrant colors inspired by her tattoo design work. Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps.
The service also announced a Love 2027 stamp. Artist and designer Lisa Congdon created the design using bright colors and simple geometric shapes arranged in a grid. The imagery includes rainbows, sunlit days, and windmills. Greg Breeding served as the art director for this stamp.
A Halloween stamp set will feature friendly illustrations of a vampire, a witch, a mummy, and the Frankenstein monster. Erick Martinez created these designs to evoke childhood memories of the holiday. Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps.
The service also announced a semipostal stamp to support childhood cancer research. Approximately 15,000 children and teenagers in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year. The disease is the leading cause of death from illness in children after early infancy. Net proceeds from the additional charge on the Cure Childhood Cancers stamp will be donated to the National Institutes of Health to fund biomédical research. Greg Breeding designed the stamp using an original illustration by Chuck Styles.
The Lunar New Year stamp for 2027 will mark the Year of the Goat. This is the eighth stamp in the third series of the Lunar New Year collection, which began in 2020. Camille Chew created paper-cut masks representing the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp using a photograph of the Goat mask taken by Sally Andersen-Bruce.
