Announced by the USPS on May 3rd:
This year the Postal Service issues its ninth stamp in celebration of Kwanzaa, a holiday with origins in ancient and modern first-harvest festivities from across the 
African continent. Kwanzaa incorporates and reimagines many communal traditions as a contemporary celebration and reaffirmation of African American culture.
The stamp design depicts a girl and a boy dressed in robes akin to spiritual garments, with a kinara (candleholder) and seven lit candles (mishumaa saba) in front of them. The kinara is the focal point around which friends and family gather and place meaningful objects.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original artwork by Erin Robinson.
Additional information will be posted below the line, with the most recent info near the top.
Updated December 1st:
The Scott Catalog number for this issue is 5737.
Updated September 21st:
On October 13, 2022, in St. Louis, MO, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Kwanzaa 2022 stamp (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 580600). This stamp will go on sale nationwide October 13, 2022, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.
The Postal Service™ issues its ninth stamp in celebration of Kwanzaa, the non-religious holiday that brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans over 7 days from December 26 to January 1 each year. The stamp design features a girl and a boy dressed in colorful robes akin to spiritual garments. A kinara (candleholder) and its seven lit candles are in the foreground. A light-blue circle behind the children’s heads represents wholeness and unifies the figures, and a mosaic motif frames the background. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original artwork by Erin Robinson.
No automatic distribution.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store® website at store.usps.com/store/home. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
FDOI – Kwanzaa 2022 Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by February 13, 2023.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Kwanzaa 2022 Stamp
Item Number: 580600
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: October 13, 2022, St. Louis, MO 63155
Art Director: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Designer: Antonio Alcalá, Alexandria, VA
Artist: Erin Robinson
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Gallus RCS
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 12,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in/19.558 x 26.67 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in/23.114 x 30.226 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 5.55 x 5.76 in/140.97 x 146.304 mm
Plate Size: 160 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Plate number in four corners
Back: ©2022 USPS • USPS logo • Two barcodes (580600) • Promotional text • Plate position diagram (8)
Updated September 13th:
[ceremony information] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Postal Service Dedicating Kwanzaa Forever Stamp
What: The U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa, an annual Pan-African holiday that brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans.
The first-day-of-issue event for the Kwanzaa Forever stamp is free and open to the public. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #KwanzaaStamps.
Who: Eddie L. Banner, Kansas-Missouri District manager and dedicating official
When: Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, at 11 a.m. CDT
Where: America’s Center Ferrara Theater
701 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
RSVP: Dedication ceremony attendees are encouraged to RSVP at:
www.usps.com/kwanzaa
Background: With this new stamp design, the U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa. The annual Pan-African holiday, which takes place over seven days from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans.
The stamp design depicts two children — a girl and a boy — standing together with a kinara (candleholder) and the seven lit candles (mishumaa saba) in front of them. They are dressed in robes a::kin to spiritual garments. A light-blue circle behind the children’s heads represents wholeness and unifies the figures, and a mosaic motif frames the background.
Kwanzaa is a festive time for rejoicing in the prospect of health, prosperity and good luck in the coming year. It is also a time for contemplation and recollection of past hardships, faced by both individuals and communities, and the ways in which history can inform and affect future happiness.
Each year, millions of African Americans gather with friends and family throughout the week of Kwanzaa to honor the holiday’s seven founding principles — unity (umoja), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).
With origins in ancient and modern first-harvest festivities occurring across the African continent, Kwanzaa incorporates and reimagines many communal traditions as a contemporary celebration and reaffirmation of African American culture.
Artist director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original artwork by Erin Robinson.
The Kwanzaa stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. This stamp will always be equal in valuedto the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:
The Digital Color Postmark for this issue measures 2.94″ x 1.22″
The Pictorial Postmark measures 2.74″ x 1.24″
Updated June 15th:
This stamp will be issued October 13 in Saint Louis.
The production of the 2022 Kwanzaa stamp is an insult to and a violation of both the Kwanzaa and Hannukah traditions This candleholder that you have depicted as a Kwanzaa kinara is not a Kwanzaa kinara; it is a Jewish menorah. You should not mix the traditions, but rather respect the integrity of both traditions. Please do not use a menorah for a Kwanzaa kinara. There are many samples available. I would suggest you visit the http://www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org and see the many that are available. You will not see a Jewish menorah there or a Kwanzaa kinara on a Hannukah website. Again, please do not use a menorah for Kwanzaa; use a Kwanzaa kinara. Also, please value both traditions, do not mix their symbols, and correct this misrepresentation and misinformation it conveys. Thank you!!!
The USPS could have done a better job representing Kwanzaa. I agree it doesn’t reflect the holiday at all. However, if you google search kinara the stock image sites definitely picture kinara’s more like menorah’s so you’ve got a bit of a problem on your hands there.
Also, the Virtual Stamp page (in which you wrote the above) has nothing to do with the USPS who designed and issued the stamp. You can file a complaint with them, but they most likely won’t see your comment here.
This stamp clearly does not reflect the meaning of Kwanzaa, which is a Celebration of Family, Community and Culture. Using an image where the children look as if they’re unhappy to celebrate this beautiful holiday does not represent the celebration of family, community and culture. Also, the Kinara, candleholder is a Jewish menorah. Each Kwanzaa symbol represents values and concepts reflective of African culture. So to use a Jewish menorah, is a violation and does not symbolize what the Kinara represents, which is symbolic of our roots, our parent people – continental Africans. Official Kwanzaa Website – https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/the-symbols.html. This definitely needs to be redone and perhaps you should reach out to the Creator of Kwanzaa, Dr. Maulana Karenga and ask for advice.
I hope you realize that The Virtual Stamp Club has no input into U.S. stamp design whatsoever.
From Post Bull 08 SEP USPS# 5806 No Auto-Distrib DCP and PIC
Virtual FDoI ceremony https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=839063670606907
My daughter and I attended the Kwanzaa FDOI in St. Louis, MO this past week. On the stage was a table of Kwanzaa items. Low and behold was a seven candlalabra!
It was quite different than thone depicted by the artist on the stamp.
So, aparently, Kwanzaa does celebrate with seven candles, the central one being black.