| Alabama
Bird: Yellowhammer Flower: Camellia Tree: Southern Longleaf Pine Capital: Montgomery Statehood: Dec. 14, 1819 |
In the background is the state capitol in Montgomery; in the foreground, the battleship USS Alabama in port at Mobile. The camellia, the state flower, is at the lower left. |
| Alaska
Bird: Willow Ptarmigan Flower: Forget-me-not Tree: Sitka Spruce Capital: Juneau Statehood: Jan. 3, 1959 |
A brown bear wading in a rushing river seizes a salmon in his mouth. In the distance are seen Mount McKinley (Denali) and other peaks of the Alaska Range. |
| Arizona
Bird: Cactus Wren Flower: Saguaro blossom Tree: Paloverde Capital: Phoenix Statehood: Feb. 14, 1912 |
Up front are a saguaro cactus and saguaro blossom, the state flower, based on source photos made in the Sonoran Desert. Behind are sandstone monoliths of Monument Valley, a place familiar to fans of John Ford's classic 1939 film Stagecoach and other movies about the Old West. |
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| Arkansas
Bird: Mockingbird Flower: Apple blossom Tree: Pine Capital: Little Rock Statehood: June 15, 1836 |
The Buffalo River and Gunner Pool, both in Ozark National Forest, are seen in the foreground. Overlooking the scene at the rear, flanked by trees, is the Ozark Baths building on Bath House Row in Hot Springs National Park. |
| California
Bird: California Quail Flower: California Poppy Tree: California Redwood Capital: Sacramento Statehood: Sept. 9, 1850 |
The design features the Bay Bridge at dusk, its suspension cables outlined in lights, with the San Francisco skyline in the distance. The dark crowns of two palm trees from Santa Catalina Island hang overhead. In the lower left corner are two blossoms of the California poppy, the state flower. |
| Colorado
Bird: Lark Bunting Flower: White/Lavender Columbine Tree: Blue Spruce Capital: Denver Statehood: Aug. 1, 1876 |
A male skier in red plunges down a snowy slope on the right, against a backdrop of two mountains in Aspen, a popular Colorado ski resort. The source photo for the skier was made by David Madison, a sports photographer from Portola Valley, California. |
| Connecticut
Bird: Robin Flower: Mountain Laurel Tree: White Oak Capital: Hartford Statehood: Jan. 9, 1788 |
A harbor scene in Mystic Seaport, with a moored sailing ship, docks and buildings, occupies the foreground. At the rear is a white Connecticut church, not further identified, surrounded by autumn foliage. |
| Delaware
Bird: Blue Hen Chicken Flower: Peach blossom Tree: American Holly Capital: Dover Statehood: Dec. 7, 1787 |
A rear view of Legislative Hall, the state capitol in Dover, is seen in the background. In front is a beach scene at Fenwick Island State Park, with colorful beach umbrellas sheltering their owners from the sun. |
| Florida
Bird: Mockingbird Flower: Orange blossom Tree: Sabal Palm Capital: Tallahassee Statehood: Mar. 3, 1845 |
At the left is a beach and palm trees in St. Petersburg, with a colorful sail visible on the water in the distance. At the right, the space shuttle Discovery lifts off its launching pad at Cape Canaveral. |
| Georgia
Bird: Brown Thrasher Flower: Cherokee Rose Tree: Live Oak Capital: Atlanta Statehood: Jan. 2, 1788 |
The portico of an unnamed antebellum plantation occupies the right rear of the montage, with Spanish moss hanging overhead and the trunks of bald cypress trees from the Okefenokee Swamp in the left foreground. Two peaches, the Georgia state fruit, are at the lower right. |
| Hawaii
Bird: Nene Flower: Yellow Hibiscus Tree: Kukui (Candlenut) Capital: Honolulu Statehood: Aug. 21, 1959 |
The design comprises a panoramic view of Waikiki Beach with its hotels lined up behind the strip of sand and the extinct volcano Diamond Head in the distance, and a blossom of yellow hibiscus, the Hawaii state flower, in the foreground. |
| Idaho
Bird: Mountain Bluebird Flower: Syringa Tree: Western White Pine Capital: Boise Statehood: July 3, 1890 |
A thrill-seeker in a yellow kayak plunges through white water on the left. A view of Shoshone Falls on the Snake River is at the right, while the Sawtooth Range of mountains is seen against the sky at the rear. |
| Illinois
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Violet Tree: White Oak Capital: Springfield Statehood: Dec. 3, 1818 |
Illinois' division between "upstate" and "downstate" is represented by Chicago's skyline at the lower right, with the Sears Tower, the nation's tallest skyscraper, readily recognizable, and ears of golden corn representing the state's rich agricultural economy at the upper left. |
| Indiana
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Peony Tree: Tulip Poplar Capital: Indianapolis Statehood: Dec. 11, 1816 |
The Hoosier State's own contrast between urban and rural areas is depicted by views of the skyline of the capital, Indianapolis, and of a covered bridge in Parke County in west central Indiana. |
| Iowa
Bird: American Goldfinch Flower: Wild Rose Tree: Oak Capital: Des Moines Statehood: Dec. 28, 1846 |
Iowa's agricultural richness is represented by a barn, silo and farm field. In the foreground are the silhouettes of several American black ducks, which winter on Iowa's waterways, including one just dropping in for a landing. |
| Kansas
Bird: Western Meadowlark Flower: Wild Native Sunflower Tree: Cottonwood Capital: Topeka Statehood: Jan. 29, 1861 |
Farming also is the theme of the Kansas montage, which depicts a combine harvester working in a wheat field and a grain elevator in Danville. Sunflowers, the state flower, are seen in the foreground. |
| Kentucky
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Goldenrod Tree: Tulip Poplar Capital: Frankfort Statehood: June 1, 1792 |
In the foreground, three thoroughbred horses race side by side at Churchill Downs in Louisville, site of the annual Kentucky Derby. At the rear is a cabin near Carlisle, Kentucky. |
| Louisiana
Bird: Brown Pelican Flower: Magnolia Tree: Bald Cypress Capital: Baton Rouge Statehood: Apr. 30, 1812 |
A horse draws a tourist carriage past an iron fence, a scene evocative of New Orleans' French Quarter. A great blue heron, a common bird in Louisiana, is seen against an orange moon. |
| Maine
Bird: Chickadee Flower: White Pine cone/tassel Tree: White Pine Capital: Augusta Statehood: Mar. 15, 1820 |
A moose, a common animal in Maine, stands in the foreground. At the rear, a lighthouse in Portland sends a beam across the night sky. |
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| Maryland
Bird: Baltimore Oriole Flower: Black-eyed Susan Tree: White Oak Capital: Annapolis Statehood: Apr. 28, 1788 |
A yellow-sailed skipjack sailboat, of the kind that has carried oystermen on the Chesapeake Bay for more than a century, is shown plying the waters off Harford County, above Baltimore. Spanning the design at the rear is the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge near Annapolis. A blue crab, a Maryland culinary specialty as well as the state crustacean, is seen at the upper left. |
| Massachusetts
Bird: Black-capped Chickadee Flower: Mayflower Tree: American Elm Capital: Boston Statehood: Feb. 6, 1788 |
This montage blends scenes from eastern and western Massachusetts into an almost seamless whole: the harbor at Rockport on Cape Ann and the ridges of Mount Greylock in the Berkshire Hills. |
| Michigan
Bird: Robin Flower: Apple Blossom Tree: White Pine Capital: Lansing Statehood: Jan. 26, 1837 |
Buildings and the people-mover monorail of the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit are combined in the design with a sport-fishing boat of a kind seen on the Great Lakes. |
| Minnesota
Bird: Common Loon Flower: Pink/White Lady Slipper Tree: Norway Pine Capital: St. Paul Statehood: May 11, 1858 |
The skyline of Minneapolis is seen against a red, almost mauve, sky and a large orange moon. In the foreground is a common loon, the state bird. |
| Mississippi
Bird: Mockingbird Flower: Magnolia Tree: Magnolia Capital: Jackson Statehood: Dec. 10, 1817 |
A Gulf of Mexico shrimp boat with its net deployed is shown at the right against the partial disc of a huge golden moon. On the left is a mansion, similar to the one on the Georgia stamp, but with the addition of a balcony. |
| Missouri
Bird: Eastern Bluebird Flower: White Hawthorn Blossom Tree: Flowering Dogwood Capital: Jefferson City Statehood: Aug. 10, 1821 |
This illustration shows the St. Louis skyline and Gateway Arch, a lake scene in the Ozarks and white hawthorn blossoms. |
| Montana
Bird: Western Meadowlark Flower: Bitterroot Tree: Ponderosa Pine Capital: Helena Statehood: Nov. 8, 1889 |
In the foreground is a cowboy riding a bucking horse at a Montana rodeo. At the rear is a vista of the Rocky Mountains in Glacier National Park. |
| Nebraska
Bird: Meadowlark Flower: Goldenrod Tree: Cottonwood Capital: Lincoln Statehood: Mar. 1, 1867 |
The design recalls the days in the mid-19th century when the state was crossed by thousands of migrants heading west on the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail to make new lives beyond the Rocky Mountains. Scotts Bluff, the 800-foot-high promontory on the Platte River that was a landmark to the travelers, is seen rising above a covered wagon typical of those they used. |
| Nevada
Bird: Mountain Bluebird Flower: Sagebrush Tree: Single-leaf Piñon and Bristlecone Pine Capital: Carson City Statehood: Oct. 31, 1864 |
The contrast between Nevada's natural landscape and the glittering urban playground superimposed upon it is the theme of this design, which combines images of desert plants and hills with the well-known neon horse and rider sign in Las Vegas. |
| New Hampshire
Bird: Purple Finch Flower: Purple Lilac Tree: White Birch Capital: Concord Statehood: June 21, 1788 |
Two male white-tailed deer, a species common in New Hampshire and other parts of the Eastern Seaboard, face the viewer in the foreground. At the rear are buildings in the city of Portsmouth. |
| New Jersey
Bird: American Goldfinch Flower: Violet Tree: Red Oak Capital: Trenton Statehood: Dec. 18, 1787 |
A lone sunbather sits beside a propped umbrella on the Jersey Shore contemplating the surf. In the background is the skyline of Atlantic City. |
| New Mexico
Bird: Roadrunner Flower: Yucca Tree: Piñon Pine Capital: Santa Fe Statehood: Jan. 6, 1912 |
The design depicts a church in Santa Fe and the Taos Pueblo north of the city of Taos. |
| New York
Bird: Eastern Bluebird Flower: Rose Tree: Sugar Maple Capital: Albany Statehood: July 26, 1788 |
This montage depicts three of the state's best-known attractions: the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Niagara Falls. |
| North Carolina
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Flowering Dogwood Tree: Pine Capital: Raleigh Statehood: Nov. 21, 1789 |
The design features the biplane built by Orville and Wilbur Wright that made the first manned flight by a heavier-than-air machine December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hill on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Dune grass native to the Outer Banks is shown beneath the plane's wings. At the left is the distinctive candy-striped lighthouse of Cape Hatteras. |
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| North Dakota
Bird: Western Meadowlark Flower: Wild Prairie Rose Tree: American Elm Capital: Bismarck Statehood: Nov. 2, 1889 |
Two photographs taken in Theodore Roosevelt National Park were the basis for this montage, which comprises three galloping wild horses and badlands hills and rock formations. |
| Ohio
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Red Carnation Tree: Ohio Buckeye Capital: Columbus Statehood: Mar. 1, 1803 |
The stamp depicts the skyline of Cleveland, including the well-known Terminal Tower, with the city's Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Cuyahoga River in the foreground. The sun hangs low in the sky behind the buildings, casting a pink glow on billowing cumulus clouds at the side. |
| Oklahoma
Bird: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Flower: Mistletoe Tree: Redbud Capital: Oklahoma City Statehood: Nov. 16, 1907 |
A mounted cowboy herding cattle, symbolic of Oklahoma's ranching tradition, is in the foreground. The skyline of Oklahoma City, the state's capital and largest city, is at the rear. |
| Oregon
Bird: Western Meadowlark Flower: Oregon Grape T ree: Douglas Fir Capital: Salem Statehood: Feb. 14, 1859 |
Mount Hood in the Cascade Range, Oregon's highest peak, rises behind a depiction of two windsurfers in the Columbia River Gorge between Oregon and Washington. |
| Pennsylvania
Bird: Ruffed Grouse Flower: Mountain Laurel Tree: Hemlock Capital: Harrisburg Statehood: Dec. 12, 1787 |
Two reminders of Pennsylvania's major role in American history are the Liberty Bell and a cannon on the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, both pictured in this stamp design. On the horizon are the Pocono Mountains, a popular resort area in the state's northeast. |
| Rhode Island
Bird: Rhode Island Red Flower: Violet Tree: Red Maple Capital: Providence Statehood: May 29, 1790 |
A sailboat with vividly colored sails skims the water in the foreground. At the rear is the Southeast Lighthouse on Block Island, as it looked before it was moved back from an encroaching cliff edge in 1994. |
| South Carolina
Bird: Carolina Wren Flower: Carolina Jessamine Tree: Palmetto Capital: Columbia Statehood: May 23, 1788 |
Beachgoers sit beneath a row of identical blue-and-yellow umbrellas on the sands of Myrtle Beach. At the rear is Rainbow Row, a row of multicolored buildings in Charleston. |
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| South Dakota
Bird: Ring-necked Pheasant Flower: Pasqueflower Tree: Black Hills Spruce Capital: Pierre Statehood: Nov. 2, 1889 |
South Dakota's best-known landmark, the sculpted heads of four presidents on Mount Rushmore, overlooks a lone bison in a field of golden grass in Badlands National Park. |
| Tennessee
Bird: Mockingbird Flower: Iris Tree: Tulip Poplar Capital: Nashville Statehood: June 1, 1796 |
Tennessee's distinction as the home of country music is represented by an acoustic guitar in the foreground. Behind it is the night skyline of Nashville, the capital, and the Cumberland River that loops through the city, and in the distance are the Great Smoky Mountains. |
| Texas
Bird: Mockingbird Flower: Bluebonnet Tree: Pecan Capital: Austin Statehood: Dec. 29, 1845 |
This design depictes the Alamo in San Antonio and a yellow rose, the state flower. |
| Utah
Bird: California Gull Flower: Sego Lily Tree: Blue Spruce Capital: Salt Lake City Statehood: Jan. 4, 1896 |
The rock formation known as the Wall of Windows in Bryce Canyon National Park provides the background. A crouching mountain lion, based on a photograph also made in Bryce Canyon National Park, and a sego lily, the Utah state flower, complete the design. |
| Vermont
Bird: Hermit Thrush Flower: Red Clover Tree: Sugar Maple Capital: Montpelier Statehood: Mar. 4, 1791 |
The design features the second skier to appear on a Greetings from America stamp, this one a female (a male skier is shown on the Colorado stamp). Behind the snowy slope which she is descending is an aerial view of a white church building surrounded by fall foliage. |
| Virginia
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Flowering Dogwood Tree: Flowering Dogwood Capital: Richmond Statehood: June 25, 1788 |
A cannon on display in the state capital, Richmond, is shown in a field with a rail fence of a kind often seen in the Virginia countryside. At the rear is the Oatlands Plantation, a National Trust for Historic Preservation property outside Leesburg, Virginia. |
| Washington
Bird: American Goldfinch Flower: Coast Rhododendron Tree: Western Hemlock Capital: Olympia Statehood: Nov. 11, 1889 |
The Seattle skyline, dominated by the Space Needle that was built for the Century 21 International Exposition in 1962, is in the foreground. At the rear, against a red sky, rises Mount Rainier, the state's best-known physical feature. |
| West Virginia
Bird: Cardinal Flower: Big Laurel Tree: Sugar Maple Capital: Charleston Statehood: June 20, 1863 |
This design consists of views of white-water rafters on a West Virginia river and a vintage grist mill on Glade Creek. |
| Wisconsin
Bird: Robin Flower: Wood Violet Tree: Sugar Maple Capital: Madison Statehood: May 29, 1848 |
With former Governor Tommy Thompson now holding a Cabinet job in Washington, Terry McCaffrey felt it was politically safe to include a group of dairy cows in the design, despite Thompson's earlier ban on "cows, cheese and cold" images on the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial stamp. In the background is a country scene with farm buildings. |
| Wyoming
Bird: Western Meadowlark Flower: Indian Paintbrush Tree: Plains Cottonwood Capital: Cheyenne Statehood: July 10, 1890 |
Wyoming's rugged Grand Teton mountains provide the backdrop in this montage, which also includes two elk, a species commonly seen in Grand Teton National Park. |