The United States Postal Service has announced a raft of new postage stamp designs that will be rolled out next year, including one that gets the seal of approval from the U.S. women’s national team as they prepare to retain their crown at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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The new collection features a wide range of designs that, the USPS says, “highlight our unique American culture,” and includes a number of prominent individuals who have had a major social influence. Former Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is honoured, along with novelist Toni Morrison, pop artist Roy Lichtenstein and civil rights leader Chief Standing Bear.
There is also a stamp that pays homage to women’s soccer in the United States, all the way up from the network of youth leagues to the reigning world champions of the USWNT. Designed by Antonio Alcala using an illustration by Noah MacMillan, the stamp features a player acrobatically “walloping a ball with a side volley” in a streamlined, modernist style that is intended to depict the dynamic movement and motion of the women’s game.
“Signed, sealed, delivered. Can’t wait to be in your mailboxes,” the USWNT wrote on Twitter.
Signed, sealed, delivered. ✉️📪
Can’t wait to be in your mailboxes starting in 2023! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/OkwgJGlLVE
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 24, 2022
While the two worlds might not be an obvious pairing, football has provided the inspiration for stamp artwork on several occasions in the past. Indeed, several star names have successfully played their way into the world of philately.
In Sweden only: Zlatan Ibrahimovic stamps @Ibra_official #stamps #Ibrahimovic #ibhahimovicstamps pic.twitter.com/vKxbS1Dyu3
— Players In Pics (@PlayersInPics) March 27, 2014
It perhaps goes without saying that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was bestowed with his own line of stamps by the Swedish Postal Service (Posten) back in 2014.
The limited-edition set featured five different images of the veteran striker and proved an instant hit, with over five million stamps selling in advance of their launch.
