# 2531 - 1991 29c Flags on Parade
US #2531
1991 Flags on Parade
- Pictures American flag, a favorite stamp subject
- Issued in honor of the first Memorial Day celebrations
Category of Stamp: Definitive
Value: 29¢, First Class Mail rate
First Day of Issue: May 30, 1991
First Day City: Waterloo, New York
Quantity Issued: 607,370,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Panes of 100, from printing cylinders of 400 subjects (20 across, 20 down)
Perforations: 11
Reason the stamp was issued: The Flags on Parade stamp was issued in honor of the 125th anniversary of the first Memorial Day celebration.
About the stamp design: The original concept for this stamp came from BEP artist Frank Waslick. His watercolor painting showed seven flags, randomly spaced and fluttering in the breeze. Years later, Peter Cocci was asked to modify the design using three flags. They were lined up as a spectator may see them at a parade. This was the design used for the stamp.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place in Waterloo, New York, where the first Memorial Day celebration was held. The first ceremony was held in 1866 to honor those who died during the Civil War.
The First Memorial Day
While this event is often considered the major predecessor to Memorial Day, there were several other similar celebrations that came before it. The practice of decorating soldiers' graves has been done for centuries. And with more than 600,000 casualties during the Civil War, honoring fallen soldiers took on a new significance in America.
According to one account, the first instance of a Civil War soldier's grave being decorated occurred in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. And during the war there were other recorded instances of people decorating the graves of soldiers. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, has declared itself the birthplace of Memorial Day for the decoration of soldiers' graves that took place on July 4, 1864.
All of these smaller events around the country served as inspiration for the first wide-scale Memorial Day in 1868. On May 5 of that year, John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veterans' organization, issued a proclamation that May 30 would be Decoration Day, to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." He chose the day because it wasn't the anniversary of any battle and according to some sources, because that was the best day for flowers to be in bloom.
Decoration Day proved to be a popular and meaningful event and it grew every year. In 1871, Michigan was the first state to declare it an official state holiday. (All other northern states would do the same by 1890.) And in 1881, now President James Garfield passed legislation granting government workers May 30 the day off of work to decorate soldiers' graves.
US #2531
1991 Flags on Parade
- Pictures American flag, a favorite stamp subject
- Issued in honor of the first Memorial Day celebrations
Category of Stamp: Definitive
Value: 29¢, First Class Mail rate
First Day of Issue: May 30, 1991
First Day City: Waterloo, New York
Quantity Issued: 607,370,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Panes of 100, from printing cylinders of 400 subjects (20 across, 20 down)
Perforations: 11
Reason the stamp was issued: The Flags on Parade stamp was issued in honor of the 125th anniversary of the first Memorial Day celebration.
About the stamp design: The original concept for this stamp came from BEP artist Frank Waslick. His watercolor painting showed seven flags, randomly spaced and fluttering in the breeze. Years later, Peter Cocci was asked to modify the design using three flags. They were lined up as a spectator may see them at a parade. This was the design used for the stamp.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place in Waterloo, New York, where the first Memorial Day celebration was held. The first ceremony was held in 1866 to honor those who died during the Civil War.
The First Memorial Day
While this event is often considered the major predecessor to Memorial Day, there were several other similar celebrations that came before it. The practice of decorating soldiers' graves has been done for centuries. And with more than 600,000 casualties during the Civil War, honoring fallen soldiers took on a new significance in America.
According to one account, the first instance of a Civil War soldier's grave being decorated occurred in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. And during the war there were other recorded instances of people decorating the graves of soldiers. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, has declared itself the birthplace of Memorial Day for the decoration of soldiers' graves that took place on July 4, 1864.
All of these smaller events around the country served as inspiration for the first wide-scale Memorial Day in 1868. On May 5 of that year, John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veterans' organization, issued a proclamation that May 30 would be Decoration Day, to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." He chose the day because it wasn't the anniversary of any battle and according to some sources, because that was the best day for flowers to be in bloom.
Decoration Day proved to be a popular and meaningful event and it grew every year. In 1871, Michigan was the first state to declare it an official state holiday. (All other northern states would do the same by 1890.) And in 1881, now President James Garfield passed legislation granting government workers May 30 the day off of work to decorate soldiers' graves.