USPS Stamp on the Occasion of Diwali

Diwali is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, and in September 2012 the campaign for a USPS Diwali stamp was gathering steam. The United States Postal Service already issued stamps for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, and Chinese New Year — and a petition drive led by the Diwali Stamp Project, chaired by New York community leader Ranju Batra, was collecting signatures to add Diwali to that list, backed by congressional resolutions championed by Representative Carolyn Maloney.

The effort was part of a broader push by Indian-American groups for recognition of Diwali in American civic life, alongside campaigns for school holidays and White House celebrations.

The campaign eventually succeeded: on October 5, 2016, the USPS unveiled a Diwali Forever stamp — a traditional diya on a sparkling gold background — at a first-day-of-issue ceremony at the Indian Consulate in New York, capping seven years of advocacy. It has since become one of the Postal Service's most popular commemorative stamps.