# 1642 - 1976 13c State Flags: Virginia

U.S. 1642
1976 Virginia State Flag
State Flags
American Bicentennial Series

• First time a sheet 50 had all different stamp designs
• Part of the American Bicentennial Series

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: American Bicentennial Series
Value: 13¢ First-class postage rate
First Day of Issue: February 23, 1976
First Day City(s): Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 8,720,100 (panes of 50)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Sheet of 50
Perforations: 11

Why the stamp was issued:
    The United States Postal Service celebrated the American Bicentennial with a full pane of the Union’s fifty state flags.

About the stamp design:
    The Virginia state flag features a deep blue field containing the seal of Virginia and the Latin motto “Sic Semper Tyrannis” – “Thus Always to Tyrants.” The official flag was adopted in 1776. The two figures pictured on the flag are acting out the meaning of the motto. Both are dressed as warriors. The woman, Virtue, represents Virginia. The man holding a scourge and chain shows that he is a tyrant, with his fallen crown nearby.

    About the printing process: Printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on their seven-color Andreotti gravure press (601) which was their work horse for multicolored stamps.

About the American Bicentennial Series:
    In the 1970s, America celebrated its 200th anniversary with hundreds of national events commemorating the heroes and historic events that led to our nation’s independence from Great Britain. The U.S. Postal Service issued 113 commemorative stamps over a six-year period in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, beginning with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Emblem stamp (U.S. #1432). As a group, the Bicentennial Series chronicles one of our nation’s most important chapters, and remembers the events and patriots who made the U.S. a world model for liberty.

    Several of the stamps honored colonial life – craftsmen and communication. Other stamps honored important battles including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga. Significant events such as the Boston Tea Party, the meeting of the First Continental Congress, and the Declaration of Independence were featured as well. The stamps also honored many significant people such as George Washington, Sybil Ludington, Salem Poor, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

    Many of the stamps feature classic artwork. For instance, the set of four souvenir sheets picture important events recreated by noted artists such as John Trumbull. The Bicentennial Series also includes an important US postal first – the first 50-stamp se-tenant – featuring all 50 state flags. The format proved to be popular with collectors, and has been repeated many times since.

    The American Bicentennial Series is packed with important US history – it tells the story of our nation’s fight for independence through stamps.

History the stamp represents:
    On June 25, 1788, Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution and was admitted as the 10th state of the Union.

    Several Indian tribes lived in Virginia when the first European explorers arrived. These included the Powhatan, Monacan and Manahoac, Nahyssan, Occaneechi, Susquehanna, Cherokee, and Nottoway. Spanish Jesuits created a settlement on the York River in 1570, but Indians destroyed it after just a few months.

    England’s Queen Elizabeth I granted Sir Walter Raleigh permission to establish a colony in America in 1584. Raleigh sent several expeditions to the New World, but they all failed due to inadequate supplies. At that time, Raleigh and the queen gave the name Virginia to the east coast of America. In 1606, King James I chartered the Virginia Company to create a colony in Virginia. The first permanent English settlement in America was begun at Jamestown in May 1607.

    Captain John Smith led Jamestown. Smith guided the colony through many hardships until 1609, when he was injured and had to return to England. Without Smith’s leadership, the colony floundered. The following winter was called the “Starving Time,” and many colonists died of starvation. In the spring, the 60 survivors (out of 214) abandoned the settlement, but shortly after setting sail were met by supply ships led by Governor Thomas West, who was also known as Lord De La Warr. The settlers returned to Jamestown.

    In 1612, colonist John Rolfe began raising tobacco. Rolfe also developed a new method for curing the tobacco leaves, and proved that tobacco could be exported to Europe. This product allowed the colony to survive economically. Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Indian confederation around Jamestown, in 1614. This marriage brought peace between the Indians and the colonists.

    Two major events occurred in Virginia in 1619. The first representative legislature in America, the House of Burgesses, was formed. The House of Burgesses met with the governor and his council to make laws for the colony. Dutch traders brought the first African slaves in America to Virginia that year as well.

    In 1624, Virginia was made a royal colony. The colony expanded westward a great deal. Over time, the colonists in eastern Virginia came to have different interests from those in the West.

    Like most other colonists, Virginia’s citizens were disturbed by Britain’s policy of taxation without representation, yet most remained loyal to the king. Virginia’s leaders, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, led the colony in its dissent. When the House of Burgesses was dissolved, its members met without permission, calling themselves the First Virginia Convention. The members elected the delegates to America’s First Continental Congress. A delegate from Virginia, Peyton Randolph, became its first president. At the Second Virginia Convention, held on March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry made his famous speech, which included the words, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

    In June of 1776, Virginia adopted its first Constitution and became an independent commonwealth. This constitution included a declaration of rights written by George Mason – the first bill of rights in an American constitution. In 1776, the colony submitted to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for independence. This resolution became the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. Many Virginians fought for independence; in fact, more fought than in any other Southern colony. Noted leaders included the great cavalry leader “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, Daniel Morgan, and George Rogers Clark. The last major battle of the Revolutionary War was won on Virginia’s soil. In 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.

    The Articles of Confederation loosely tied the 13 original colonies together. However, the Articles of Confederation soon proved to be inadequate. James Madison and other Virginians led the movement to create the Constitution of the United States. Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788, making it the 10th state to enter the Union.