2011 First-Class Forever Stamp, Flags of Our Nation: Rhode Island

Issue Date: August 11, 2011
City: Columbus, Ohio
Printed By: Sennett Security Products

Printing Method: Photogravure
Color: multicolored

Flags of Our Nation, Set V: The Flags of Our Nation stamps issued in 2011 is the fifth group of the series. The stamps show historic state flags, as well as a “snapshot” image that shares some of each state’s character.

 

 The smallest state in the Union has been a place of hope since its founding. Rhode Island was established as a refuge for religious freedom. The anchor on its flag represents the hope that people had when they moved to “The Ocean State.”

 

Roger Williams was a minister who believed violations of church law should not be punished by the government. When he was exiled from Massachusetts, he and his followers bought land from the Narragansett Indians and founded the colony of Providence, which would one day become Rhode Island. This new community was the first settlement where citizenship was not dependent on belonging to a particular church. Individuals were free to choose their form of worship and the region became home to people of many faiths. 

 

In the Bible, it says hope is “an anchor of the soul.” Since the early settlers had been persecuted because of their Christian beliefs, Rhode Island represented the anchor of hope they were looking for.

 

Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to declare its independence from England. The beliefs the state was founded on led to the desire to break from British rule. That decision gave hope to the other colonies that a new nation could be formed.