U.S. Design Flaw

Fox News reports an astute stamp collector discovered that one of the Old Glorys in the U.S. Postal Service's "Flags 24/7" series appears to have 14 stripes.

The stamp in question, "Night," was released by the Postal Service on April 18 as part of a series of four stamps painted by Maryland artist Laura Stutzman depicting Old Glory at sunrise, noon, sunset and night.

Stutzman is quoted as saying her four paintings for the "Flag 24/7" series were "examined three times by the Stamp Advisory Committee, that I know of, and then art directors look at it; everybody looks at it."

David E. Failor, a manager of Stamp Services for the Postal Service, said in the article the extra stripe came from a design flaw. A white line, he said, was added to provide definition to the flag.

Stamp collector Tony Servies wrote about the extra stripe on his blog StampsofDistinction.com after reading a June 30 letter to the editor about the extra bar in Linn's.

To read the entire article, click here.