A Flag for All Seasons

Value:63¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rateIssued:May 3, 2013First Day City:Weston, MA – Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, 50th anniversary eventType of Stamp:DefinitivePrinted by:Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.Method:Offset printing in coils of 100Perforation:Die Cut 9 ½ verticalSelf-Adhesive
Quantity Printed:250,000,000 stamps

During the summer of 1969, the U.S. flag was planted on the moon. The Apollo 11 lunar landing was the first in history, and it was said to signal U.S. superiority over Russia. In reality, only a tragic quirk of fate kept the landing from being a joint mission that may have hastened the end of the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia.
 
The Soviets had successfully launched a satellite into orbit in 1957, sending fear across America. Shortly after his 1961 inauguration, John F. Kennedy announced his goal of winning the “space race” by landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
 
While scientists worked on making the dream a reality, Kennedy was occupied by a series of events that nearly brought the U.S. to war with Russia. By September 1963, tensions eased and Kennedy issued a surprising proposal during an address to the United Nations – a U.S.-Soviet mission to the moon. Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev refused the offer.
 
According to his son, Khrushchev changed his mind in the weeks that followed. But the November 22, 1963 assassination of the American President ended the negotiations.  On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong planted the first of six United States flags on the moon’s surface. The U.S. is the only nation to claim that honor.

Laura Stutzman of Maryland created the patriotic gouache illustrations from her own photographs for the Flag for All Seasons stamps.  Each of the four stamps in the issue pictures the U.S. flag, as seen from below, with the trees and sky representing the season.