5 Big Changes Coming to the Post Office in 2026

3. New stamp designs celebrate art, pop culture icons, symbols of America and outer space

The Postal Service rolls out new stamp designs every year. Its 2026 lineup includes images of:​

• James Yang artwork. This addition to the Postal Service’s popular Love series showcases Yang’s colorful illustrations of two birds and hearts. Released Jan. 13.
• Muhammad Ali. Two stamps feature a 1974 Associated Press photo of the three-time world heavyweight champion and cultural icon, with the name “ALI” alternating top to bottom and in red and black. Released Jan. 15.
• Colorado’s statehood. The USPS will honor the 38th state on its 150th anniversary of joining the U.S. with a stamp that features Jagged Mountain in the Rockies. Releases Jan. 24.
• Writer Phillis Wheatley. This stamp will commemorate the first author of African descent in the American Colonies, known as the “mother of African American literature,” by featuring her portrait as part of the Postal Service’s Black Heritage stamp series. Releases Jan. 29.
• Lunar New Year. The USPS will mark the Year of the Horse with the seventh stamp in its Lunar New Year series, which began in 2020. Releases Feb. 3.
• Actor Bruce Lee. The martial artist who became the first Asian leading man in American movies will be celebrated on this stamp, which features a picture of Lee executing his iconic flying kick. Releases Feb. 18.
• Folk artist Harriet Powers. This series of four stamps will feature images of a quilt completed in 1898 by Powers, whose works are considered masterworks of American folk art. Releases Feb. 28.
• Lowriders. A series of five stamps will feature cars customized to ride low, a style with roots in 1940s working-class Mexican American communities of the Southwest. Releases March 13.
• Deep space. Two new stamps will feature images captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. One features the Crab Nebula, which is 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. The other is a composite image from the Webb and Hubble space telescopes of two galaxies 80 million light-years from Earth. Release date to be announced.

4. Your mail may take longer to be postmarked

The postmarks on your letters and packages may no longer reflect when you mailed them.

In late 2025, the USPS announced that, going forward, date stamps in postmarks would indicate when mail is received at processing facilities, not when it’s collected by a mail carrier or dropped off at a post office. As a result of adjustments to transportation operations, some mail might not arrive at a processing facility the same day it was sent.

That means mail that must be postmarked by a certain date, such as tax returns and mail-in ballots, could be marked as late if you wait until the last minute to send it. You’ll need to get it in your mailbox sooner, or take it to a post office to request a manual postmark that aligns with the date you send it.

5. You might not receive exact change when paying with cash

Following the 1-cent coin’s retirement in 2025, the USPS is rounding to the nearest nickel when pennies aren’t available and customers are owed change on cash transactions.

Change amounts ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents are rounded down. Amounts ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents are rounded up. If the total is less than a nickel, the amount owed is rounded up to 5 cents.

The new rounding policy, which was implemented on Dec. 12, 2025, does not apply to check, debit or credit card transactions.