2026 Bruce Lee Stamps Sheet of 20 - Forever - MNH

When it came to designing a stamp honoring this star, USPS art director Antonio Alcalá decided he “needed an artist who could do an accurate rendering of Lee performing a flying kick based on reference materials.” His fellow art directors recommended Kam Mak. “It didn’t hurt that he’s been a big Bruce Lee fan for most of his life!” Alcalá adds.

When he approached Mak about the project, the award-winning painter/illustrator was intrigued, but also recognized the project’s complexity. “What surprised me was that there were no ideal photos of Bruce Lee performing the flying kick with enough detail of his face,” he says. However, USPS provided him with a variety of images of Lee and “even commissioned an expert to perform the flying kick,” Mak says, “resulting in some stunning photographs.” Mak, who emigrated from Hong Kong as a child, studied all of Lee’s films, an exercise he found “crucial to capturing the essence of his likeness.” He adds, “All these references gave me inspiration and helped guide my initial sketches and, subsequently, my final painting.”

The stamp artwork features Mak’s black-and-white painting of Lee executing his iconic move. Rendered in egg tempera on traditional gesso, the portrait is set against what Alcalá calls “a calligraphic, yellow brush stroke,” a reference to the iconic yellow tracksuit Lee wore in The Game of Death, which was completed and released years after his death. On the right side of the stamp, BRUCE LEE and USA FOREVER are printed vertically and angled to appear as if Lee’s kick were breaking them in half. This arrangement — with LEE and USA in bold — enhances the action, Alcalá says. “I think he would have appreciated the design.”

The Bruce Lee stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.