Flax Herb Stamps (Herbs, Culinary, Flowers, Bridal, Blue) Vintage Unused USPS Postage 29c

Add a touch of timeless elegance to your save-the-date, bridal announcement, wedding invitations, and letters with this gorgeous vintage stamp from the “Herbs” series. Mint condition and unused, this beautiful stamp features a sprig of flowering flax with its characteristic five-petaled cup-shaped blue bloom and silvery green leaves. The flax plant has been adapted for an amazing number of uses, from preserving mummies to making linen cloth that dates back some 30,000 years.

Flax plants are delicate and paper-like, and can grow up to 3 feet tall. It is a broadleaf plant with narrow leaves and produces blue flowers and small, flat glossy brown or golden seeds. Flax flowers evoke purity, perseverance, and rebirth. They can also represent family, heart, and faith. 

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) originated in the Mediterranean region and was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The earliest evidence of flax cultivation dates back to the fifth millennium BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Flax was cultivated in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and India. Flax was used as a medium of exchange and a measure of wealth in ancient times. Alexander the Great wore linothorax armor made of linen soaked in flaxseed oil. In the United States, flax was first cultivated in the Pennsylvania colony in the 17th century. Flax has been used for rope, string, cloth, sails, mummy wrapping, food, and medicine. Flaxseed oil is used for domestic, medicinal, and religious applications, while flax protein is used to support the immune system and prevent heart disease.

Part of the Herbs series, this 29-cent stamp was first issued by the United States Postal Ser­vice (USPS) on April 7, 2011, in New York, New York. These self-adhesive stamps were designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia. The five stamps in this series feature various flowering herbs used for fragrance, flavoring, med­icine, and/or decoration. Artist Teresa Fasolino of New York, New York, created the original oil paintings for each stamp in the series. Each stamp evokes a vintage-style and depicts a particular species in bloom, as well as a typical leaf and flower or seed capsule. The species featured on these elegant stamps are Origanum vulgare (oregano), Linum perenne (flax), Digitalis purpurea (foxglove), Lavandula angustifolio (lavender), and Salvia officinalis (sage), however, only the common names for these plants appear on the stamps. 29-cents was the postcard rate the year these stamps were released.

These stamps are perfectly suitable for use as current postage for mailing with USPS, as long as you use the adequate amount of postage to achieve standard postage rates according to the weight of your mailing.

** Please note that you may receive coil stamps for this order which will not have the perforation at the top and bottom like the stamps in the listing photos.