About This Stamp
In 2010, the U.S. Postal Service continues its Flags of Our Nation series with ten more stamp designs — designated Set 4 — that feature the Stars and Stripes and the flags of the states of Montana through North Dakota.
In addition to the flag art, each stamp design includes artwork that provides a “snapshot view” of the state or other area represented by a particular flag. In most cases, an everyday scene or activity is shown, but occasionally the view is of something less commonplace — rare wildlife, perhaps, or a stunning vista. Unlike some previous multi-stamp issuances, this series is not limited to official animals, flowers, or products, nor is it meant to showcase well-known buildings, landmarks, or monuments.
“Snapshot” art for the Stars and Stripes stamps was inspired by the opening lines of “America the Beautiful,” written by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929). The 2010 design features “purple mountain majesties.”
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Howard E. Paine
A member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee before being named an art director in 1981, Howard E. Paine supervised the design of more than 400 U.S. postage stamps. After three decades as an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, he retired in 2011.
For more than 30 years Paine was an art director for the National Geographic Society, where he redesigned National Geographic magazine, developed the children’s magazine, National Geographic World, and designed Explorers Hall. A popular lecturer, he has spoken at Yale University and New York University, among others, and presented programs for the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution. A judge for numerous art shows and design competitions, Paine also taught magazine design at The George Washington University.
Paine had been a stamp collector since childhood. In 2000, he designed the catalog for Pushing The Envelope: The Art of the Postage Stamp, an exhibit of original stamp art at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Howard Paine died on September 13, 2014.
Stamp Artist
Tom Engeman
Nationally acclaimed artist Tom Engeman, a resident of Kensington, Maryland, is well known for his poster and stamp designs. The winner of numerous design awards, he lists among his career accomplishments being the first art director for Washingtonian magazine, designing Historic Preservation magazine, and creating posters for the Metro, Washington’s new subway system, which were stolen as soon as they went up.
Among his many designs for the U.S. Postal Service are the Liberty Bell Forever® stamp, 60 stamps for the Flags of Our Nation series that began in 2008, and eight butterfly-themed stamps, the first issued in 2010, intended for use on large greeting card envelopes and other mail of nonstandard shapes and sizes. Engeman's most recent butterfly stamp design is Colorado Hairstreak (2021).