Flag imagery has appeared on US postage since at least 1869, and flag designs have carried ordinary mail through most of the last century — including during the Second World War, when they did obvious additional work.
What is more useful to most people than the design history is the price history, because it shows a pattern you can plan around.
Five years of the Forever stamp
| Year | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $0.55 | — |
| 2020 | $0.55 | No increase |
| 2021 | $0.58 | Rising operating costs |
| 2022 | $0.60 | A small step |
| 2023 | $0.63 | Continued inflation |
| 2024 | $0.73 | The largest single jump in the period |
Two things stand out. There are flat years — 2019 to 2020 saw no change at all — so increases are not automatic. And the pace is not even: the 2024 move was larger than the three before it combined.
Which is the practical lesson. Extrapolating a steady annual rise gets you the wrong number, in both directions. Adjustments are announced in advance through a regulatory review, and that announcement is the only reliable signal — not a trend line.
What that means for buying
A Forever stamp bought at 55 cents still carries a one-ounce letter today. That is the entire mechanism, and it is why the price table above is also a savings table for anyone who bought early.
The sensible policy for a household or a small business: watch for announced adjustments rather than guessing at them, and when one is announced, buy the postage you know you will use before it takes effect. Not more than that — postage beyond your own usage is not a hedge, it is a drawer.
Why flag stamps specifically
They are the definitive workhorse: printed continuously, always in stock, appropriate on any transactional envelope, and the design most reliably available below face value through surplus channels because they are what businesses buy and therefore what businesses liquidate.
They are also popular for first day covers and commemorative envelopes, which is a collecting use rather than a mailing one — worth knowing if you are wondering why sheets sometimes sell above face.
On collecting them
Worth being straight about this. Modern flag definitives are printed in vast quantities, which is the opposite of what makes a stamp valuable. A run of flag issues is genuinely interesting as a design record — the same subject reinterpreted decade after decade — and it will not appreciate.
Collect them because the series is worth having. Buy them in bulk because they are the correct stamp for most mail. Both are good reasons; neither is financial.
Where to buy
The USPS official store for current issues, or a verified surplus channel such as Forever Stamp Center for earlier flag coils below face value.
The short version
Postage went from 55 to 73 cents in five years, unevenly, with a flat year in the middle. Watch for announced adjustments rather than extrapolating, buy what you will use before one lands, and treat the flag as the default design for everything transactional.
More on buying Forever stamps
- 👉 Why the Flag Stamp Is the One You Should Default To
- 👉 Seven Increases Since 2021: Reading the Price Curve
- 👉 Flag Stamps Won't Make You Money
USPS specialist based in Los Angeles with extensive experience in postal operations and customer service. Certified in mail management and trained at the USPS Business Mail Academy, she offers reliable guidance on Forever Stamps and practical mailing solutions.
