2017 US Flags Forever First Class Postage Stamps

The 2017 flag stamp was painted in oil on canvas, and it shows. The brushwork gives the fabric a weight that the digital flag stamps of later years do not have - you can see where the paint sits thicker on the stripes. The design holds the flag at full staff against a clear, untroubled sky, with the broad stripes and the stars given roughly equal room. Nothing is moving. That stillness is the choice that separates it from the 2018 issue, which is all motion.

The Postal Service issues a new flag design most years, so collectors buy by year and everyone else buys whichever is in the drawer. For general mail this is the quiet one - business correspondence, membership renewals, civic and veterans' organization mail, anything that should look settled rather than stirring. Available in booklets, rolls and sheets. Forever value applies, so a 2017 stamp bought at 49 cents covers a one-ounce letter at today's rate with nothing to add.