The Postal Service has put a date on its Diwali stamp. The dedication is Wednesday 21 October at the Embassy of India in Washington, and the festival itself falls on 8 November, which leaves a clear run at first day covers before the holiday mail starts moving.
What is being issued
The Diwali stamp is a Forever stamp, so it will always be worth the First-Class Mail one ounce price in effect on the day it is used. It is issued in a pane of 20 in a vertical format, carries item number 582900, and the print quantity is 20,000,000 stamps.
The artwork
The design is a photograph rather than an illustration. The rangoli was made by the artist Sangita Bhutada and photographed by Bijay Dixit, and the finished pattern is a circular floral motif in blue, orange, green, red and white laid in starch-based coloured powder and coloured sand, set against a purple background. William J. Gicker was the art director, Jennifer Arnold designed the stamp, and Daryl DeMont was the modeler.
The first day ceremony
The dedication takes place at the Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008. Retail sales and cancellations run from 10am to 2pm Eastern, and the ceremonial unveiling and reception follows at 6pm Eastern. The dedicating official is Shibani Gambhir, the Postal Service vice president for sales intelligence and support. Anyone planning to attend has to register in advance at usps.com/diwalistamp.
Printing detail for specialists
The stamp is printed offset with microprint by Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd on a Muller A76 press, in cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The paper is nonphosphored Type III with a block tag applied, and the adhesive is pressure-sensitive. The plate size is 320 stamps per revolution and the plate number is a letter P followed by four single digits.
Measurements are worth recording for anyone writing up a first day cover. The image area is 0.7700 by 1.0500 inches, the overall stamp measures 0.9100 by 1.1900 inches, and the full pane is 5.5500 by 5.7600 inches. On the front, the plate number appears in all four corners. The back carries the copyright line, the USPS logo, two barcodes reading 582900, a plate position diagram and promotional text.
Where the rest of the 2026 holiday issues landed
Diwali closes out a dense autumn on the issuing calendar. The seven stamps before it all appeared within a month:
| Stamp | Issued | City |
|---|---|---|
| Global Winter Wreath | 18 September | Humble, TX |
| Christmas Cookies | 19 September | Washington, DC |
| Kwanzaa | 23 September | Norfolk, VA |
| Squirrels and Chipmunks in Snow | 25 September | Brookfield, WI |
| Hanukkah | 29 September | New Orleans, LA |
| Christmas: Madonna and Child | 2 October | Williamstown, MA |
| Know the Facts About Fentanyl | 6 October | Bethesda, MD |
Where to buy it
From 21 October the stamp is available at Post Office locations nationwide, through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by phone on 844-737-7826, and by mail through USA Philatelic. Licensed products carrying the design are sold through the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon.
Worth knowing before you buy a sheet to hold
A print run of 20,000,000 is a large modern issue, and quantity at that level is the single clearest reason most recent commemoratives stay close to face value for a long time. Scarcity is what produces appreciation, and 20 million panes of anything is not scarce. A sheet bought today is worth buying because the design is good and the postage is useful, not because it is an investment. The same logic applied to every modern issue can be checked against recent sold prices on the stamp values tool.
If you want the 21 October date on paper, a first day cover is the thing to arrange, and the registration link above is the only way into the ceremony itself.
Browsing for something older in the meantime? The marketplace is open.
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