In 2024, the US Postal Service issued four Garden Delights stamps, each bearing a flower and a ruby-throated hummingbird. Through the years, flowers and birds have been popular topics for US stamps. However, this was not always the case.
Flowers weren’t used as the main design element until 1961 when a big sunflower adorned the Kansas Statehood stamp. From there, flowers only occasionally appeared on statehood stamps and a few other issues until 17 years later.
Finally, in 1978, the Medallion Roses stamp was issued. The very next year, the Endangered Flora se-tenant was printed. Since then, flowers have been a staple in the US stamp lineup each year.
According to thephilately.com, “Flowers are one of the most popular areas for topical stamp collectors.” Since there are thousands of stamps to save, some narrow their collections down to specific countries or even to specific flowers.
The United States isn’t the only country to show flowers on stamps. In 2011, Canada worked with the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa and grew sunflowers to picture on stamps that year. Nearly every stamp-issuing country has a variety of flower stamps for topical collectors. Flowers on stamps have come a long way in 50 years.
