The Postal Service will release its International Peace stamp on Wednesday, May 27.
The stamp depicts an origami crane — a symbol of global peace — against a bright blue sky.
The origins of the crane as a peace symbol began in Japan in 1955 after the death of a 12-year-old girl who survived the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima but developed leukemia afterward.
Sadako Sasaki had been folding paper cranes in the hospital but died before she could meet her goal of folding 1,000 of them in order to have her deepest wish granted, according to a local legend.
Her classmates made up the difference so she could be buried with a garland of a thousand paper cranes.
The paper crane appearing on the stamp was folded by Sue DiCicco, an artist and founder of the Peace Crane Project.
Antonio Alcalá, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp using a photo of DiCicco’s crane taken by Sally Andersen-Bruce.
A dedication ceremony will take place at the Boston 2026 World Exposition stamp show.
The Forever stamp will be available in sheets of 20 at Post Offices and at usps.com.
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