Summitt, Mays Join 2027 Stamps

The United States Postal Service announced its 2027 stamp lineup on Monday. The collection includes portraits of sports figures, illustrations of mythical beings, and a semipostal stamp dedicated to funding pediatric cancer research.

Two major sports icons will receive commemorative stamps next year. Pat Summitt, who coached the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team for 38 years, will be honored. Her record includes more than 1,000 wins and eight national championships. The stamp features an oil painting on prepared linen by artist Roberto Parada. Ethel Kessler, a USPS art director, designed the final layout.

Willie Mays will be featured in the 50th stamp of the Black Heritage series. Mays played for the New York Giants and San Francisco Giants over a 23-year career. His stamp displays a portrait wearing a New York Giants cap and depicts his famous over-the-shoulder catch from the 1954 World Series. Antonio Alcalá, another USPS art director, designed the stamp using photographs from Getty Images.

The 2027 lineup also includes a Lunar New Year stamp for the Year of the Goat. This marks the eighth entry in a series that began in 2020. Artist Camille Chew created paper-cut masks representing the 12 zodiac animals. The final design utilized a photograph of the goat mask by Sally Andersen-Bruce.

A semipostal stamp titled Cure Childhood Cancers will support biomedical research. Approximately 15,000 children and adolescents in the United States are diagnosed with cancer annually. The disease is the leading cause of illness-related death in minors after infancy. Net proceeds from the additional cost of this stamp will be donated to the National Institutes of Health to fund research on safer treatments and improved survival rates.

Other themes scheduled for 2027 include unicorns, vegetables, and mythical creatures. The unicorn series consists of 16 stamps with four distinct scenes by artist Kendra Binney. The vegetable series contains 20 stamps featuring close-up photographs of ten produce items, including red onions, purple cauliflower, and watermelon radishes. These designs use existing photographs by food photographer Renée Comet.

The mythical creatures collection features five stamps depicting regional legends such as the Mothman, the Jackalope, the Squonk, Sasquatch, and Champ the lake monster. Artist Nat Power illustrated these figures using digital techniques inspired by tattoo design. A Halloween series will also launch, featuring illustrations of a vampire, witch, mummy, and the Frankenstein monster by Erick Martinez.