1968 6c Register and Vote

Issue Date: June 27, 1968
Quantity:  158,700,000
Printed By:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Lithographed, engraved
Perforations: 11
Color:  Black, yellow and orange

This stamp was issued on June 28, 1968, encouraging Americans to register and vote ahead of that year's presidential election. The stamp arrived during a turbulent and consequential year in American politics, one that included the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, ongoing debate over the Vietnam War, and a hard fought presidential race between Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace. Against that backdrop, encouraging voter turnout carried particular significance, as the nation prepared to make a consequential choice at the ballot box that November.

The stamp's design features an eagle weathervane, a form of American folk art with roots reaching back to the earliest days of the republic. After the bald eagle became the nation's official symbol in 1782 with the adoption of the Great Seal, the image quickly became one of the most popular motifs in American decorative arts, appearing on everything from rooftops to household goods. Eagle weathervanes in particular became a favorite subject among craftsmen, serving as emblems of flight and freedom mounted atop barns, churches, and public buildings across the country.

By pairing this traditional American symbol with a direct call to civic action, the stamp connected the country's founding ideals to the ongoing responsibility of participating in its democracy. The choice of a weathervane, an object that responds to changing conditions while remaining fixed in place, offered a fitting visual metaphor for a nation navigating significant social and political change while still relying on its founding democratic principles.