Each of the four stamps features a modern interpretation of a flying flag, complete with six red and white wavy stripes and a handful of five-pointed stars. The designs were inspired by 20th-century American ephemera, such as pins and flags.

Today, the American flag remains a powerful symbol. “In those broad stripes and bright stars, we see the arc of the American story,” President Barack Obama said in his 2013 Flag Day proclamation, “from a handful of colonies to 50 States, united and free.”