# 3153 FDC - 1997 32c The Stars and Stripes Forever!

US #3153
1997 The Stars and Stripes Forever

• Honors John Philip Sousa’s march “The Stars and Stripes Forever” – also the National March of the United States

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  August 21, 1997
First Day City:  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Quantity Issued:  323,000,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50 (Vertical 10 across, 5 down)
Perforations:  11.2 (Eureka perforator)
Tagging:  Phosphored paper

Why the stamp was issued:  To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of John Philip Sousa’s famous march “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

About the stamp design:  Shows a trumpet player in the foreground with a drummer behind him.  Both men wear dark blue jackets with gold buttons and gold braid details on the sleeves and collar.  They also have flat, visored caps on their heads.  A large American flag waves in the breeze in the background.

Special design details:  Pictures artwork by Dave LaFleur of Atchison, Kansas.  (LaFleur was also the artist for the Flag Over Porch definitive stamps first issued in 1995 and the four Folk Heroes commemorative stamps of 1997.)  Art director Richard Sheeaff told LaFleur the design needed to picture a marching band from John Philip Sousa’s era.  Sheaff said, “I went to Dave because I wanted something monumental, bigger than life, and he paints well in the heroic style.”

While the year date usually runs horizontally in the area below the stamp design at the lower left, there was no room for it on this stamp.  Instead, the “1997” was set in microtype and placed vertically below the left corner to the left of “The Stars and Stripes Forever!”

First Day City:  The stamp’s First Day of Issue ceremony was held at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee during Stampshow 97, the annual convention of the American Philatelic Society (APS) co-sponsored by APS, the American Stamp Dealers Association, and the USPS.

History the stamp represents:  John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) wrote and composed “The Stars and Stripes Forever” in 1896.  In his autobiography Marching Along (1928), Sousa said he came up with the idea for the march while aboard a ship on Christmas Day 1896.  He and his wife were on their way home from vacation in Europe, so Sousa had to keep the tune in his head until reaching the US where he immediately wrote it down.

“The Stars and Stripes Forever” was performed for the first time at Willow Grove Park outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 1897.  Audiences and critics loved it, and in 1987, Congress passed an act declaring the piece the official National March of the United States.

Today, the world remembers Sousa as “The March King” of America.    “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” is just one of the patriotic songs he composed.  He also wrote “Semper Fidelis” (official march of the US Marine Corps), “The Washington Post,” “The Liberty Bell,” “U.S. Field Artillery” (later modified to “The Army Goes Rolling Along” as the official song of the US Army), and more.  In total, Sousa wrote over 130 marches, an impressive feat alone, but even more so given their enduring popularity even over 100 years later.