July 28th: Here is the design for this issue.

This stamp will be issued September 13th at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, in conjunction with the Anniversary Festival there. (See the Friends of Fort McHenry website, which says in part, “Events crescendo on September 13 with a star-studded patriotic concert and extraordinary fireworks display over Fort McHenry and the Baltimore harbor.” There is no mention on that page of the stamp, nor on other sites’ pages about the 10-day festival.

The first-day ceremony will be held at 11:00 a.m., the USPS tells us. (added June 12th: The National Park Service expects huge crowds, about 20,000 people, on September 13th. Plan accordingly; mass transit? The ceremony will be held inside the Fort itself.)

This is the second or third stamp this year honoring the bicentennial of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” depending on how you count. A “Star-Spangled Banner” definitive, also featuring Fort McHenry, was issued January 28th (http://virtualstampclub.com/lloydblog/?p=170) with an additional varieties on March 3rd. (This is also obviously the year for stamps named “Spangled,” because the Butterfly Greeting Card stamp subject was the Great Spangled Frtillary!)

From my article in October about the partial program preview: “We weren’t shown the design for the Wqr of 1812 stamp, but the subject will be the Battle of Fort McHenry. It includes soldiers manning a cannon, the “Star-Spangled Banner” in the background, colored by “the rockets’ red glare. A portrait of the fort’s commander by Rembrandt Peale is on the back.”

From USPSstamps.com, July 28th:

The War of 1812, sometimes called “the forgotten conflict,” was a two-and-a-half-year confrontation with Great Britain that brought the United States to the verge of bankruptcy and disunion. With this 2014 issuance, the U.S. Postal Service continues its commemoration of the bicentennial of a war that ultimately helped forge our national identity and gave us our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The stamp’s subject for the third year of the war is the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, in September 1814. Using mixed media, stamp artist Greg Harlin, a specialist in historical paintings, depicts the battle from the vantage point of a group of soldiers manning a cannon in defense of Fort McHenry. The stamp art also gives prominence to “the rockets’ red glare” that Maryland native Francis Scott Key wrote about in “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

A portrait by Rembrandt Peale of the fort’s commander, George Armistead, appears on the reverse of the stamp sheet (courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society). The selvage engraving on the front of the sheet is a black and white version of a painting by Percy Moran depicting Key aboard the ship from which he witnessed the battle. The stamp sheet includes verso text and selvage text.

For some 25 hours beginning on the morning of September 13, a squadron of the Royal Navy fired more than 1,500 rounds of shells and rockets at Fort McHenry, which was designed to protect Baltimore from attacks by sea. Key witnessed this massive display of firepower from the deck of an American flag-of-truce vessel, where he had just completed negotiations with the British for the release of an American prisoner.

On the morning of September 14, Key realized the bombardment had been a failure when he saw the British squadron withdrawing downriver. He was moved to write “The Defence of Fort McHenry” to the tune of an old English song, and it quickly gained wider recognition under the title “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Greg Breeding served as art director and designer for the stamp.

The War of 1812: Fort McHenry stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

From the Postal Bulletin of August 21st:

On September 13, 2014, in Baltimore, MD at the Anniversary Festival at Fort McHenry, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue The War of 1812: Fort McHenry (Forever® priced at 49 cents) commemorative First-Class Mail® stamp, in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 588200). The $9.80 The War of 1812: Fort McHenry pane may not be split, and the stamps may not be sold individually.

The stamp will go on sale nationwide September 13, 2014.

In 2014, the Postal Service continues its commemoration of the War of 1812, a conflict with Great Britain that many Americans viewed as the nation’s “Second War of Independence.” The stamp subject is the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD, in September 1814. Illustrated with mixed media by noted historical painter Greg Harlin, the stamp art depicts the battle from the vantage point of a group of soldiers manning a cannon in defense of the fort. The stamp art also gives prominence to “the rockets’ red glare” that Francis Scott Key wrote about in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” A portrait by Rembrandt Peale of the fort’s commander, George Armistead, appears on the reverse of the stamp pane (courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society). The selvage engraving on the front of the pane is a black and white version of a painting by Percy Moran depicting Key aboard the ship from which he witnessed the battle. The stamp pane includes verso text and selvage text. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp and pane.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

War of 1812: Ft. McHenry
Postmaster
900 E. Fayette Street
Baltimore, MD 21233-9998

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. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by November 12, 2014.

There are 11 philatelic products for this stamp issue:

• 588206, Press Sheet w/Die cuts, $49.00 (print quantity 1,000).
• 588208, Press Sheet w/o Die cuts, $49.00 (print quantity 1,500).
• 588210, Keepsake w/Digital Color Postmark, $11.95.
• 588216, First-Day Cover, $0.93.
• 588218, Full Pane First-Day Cover, $12.30.
• 588219, Cancelled Full Pane, $12.30.
• 588221, Digital Color Postmark, $1.64.
• 588224, Framed Art, $39.95.
• 588230, Ceremony Program, $6.95.
• 588231, Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
• 588232, Stamp Deck Card w/Digital Color Postmark, $1.99.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: The War of 1812: Fort McHenry Stamp
Item Number: 588200
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever Commemorative
Format: Souvenir Sheet of 20 (1 design)
Series: War of 1812
Issue Date & City: September 13, 2014, Baltimore, 
MD 21233
Designer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Typographer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Artist: Greg Harlin, Annapolis, MD
Engraver: WRE/ColorTech
Modeler: CCL Label, Inc.
Manufacturing Process: Gravure
Printer: CCL Label, Inc.
Printed at: Clinton, SC 29325
Press Type: Dia Nippon Kiko (DNK)
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 30 million stamps
Paper Type: USPS-P-1238, Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block, Nonphosphored Type III
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: CCL Label, Inc., Clinton, SC
Colors: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Tan 7535, Black
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 1.09 in./36.07 x 27.56 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 1.23 in./39.62 x 31.12 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 10.25 x 7.25 in./260.35 x 184.15 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 10.25 x 36.25 in./260.00 x 921.00
Plate Size: 100 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: N/A
Marginal Markings: Front: Side Header: The War of 1812: Fort McHenry • Descriptive text
Back: © 2014 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram in lower right corner • Barcode (588200) in lower left corner • Promotional text Portrait of George Armistead • Descriptive text

The first-day postmarks:

The black-and-white postmark measures 2.87″ x 1.18″The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.81″ x 1.31″