The United States Postal Service announced on 21 August 2026 that its latest Kwanzaa stamp will be issued on 23 September at a public first-day ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia. The event is scheduled for noon Eastern Time during the 111th annual conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel.

The release will be the eleventh United States stamp devoted to Kwanzaa, the annual celebration observed from 26 December through 1 January. USPS describes the holiday as bringing together family, community and culture through traditions drawn from several African sources. The observance was created in the United States in 1966, and its name derives from a Swahili expression associated with first fruits.

The stamp illustration shows a father holding his young daughter. He carries a kikombe cha umoja, or unity cup, while she holds a wrapped zawadi, or gift. The palette uses lime green, pink and yellow as a contemporary variation on the green, red and black traditionally associated with Kwanzaa. Antonio Alcalá served as art director and designer, working with illustrator Cannaday Chapman.

USPS identifies the stamp as a Forever issue in a pressure-sensitive pane of 20. The first-day ceremony is free and open to the public, with advance registration encouraged through the postal service’s event page. Norfolk’s ceremony and the connection with the history association’s conference provide clear contextual evidence for first-day covers, programmes and other ceremony-related material.

Collectors should distinguish the 2026 design from the ten earlier United States Kwanzaa issues by its father-and-daughter composition, updated colour treatment and 23 September Norfolk first-day date. Detailed postmark-ordering arrangements and product formats are provided separately through USPS philatelic notices.