What's your sign?

Throughout the 235-year history of the Postal Service, we have used just three logos.

The official logo from 1775 - 1970

When Benjamin Franklin was named postmaster general in 1775, he distributed leaflets throughout the colonies with a woodcut image that depicted a post rider on horseback with saddlebags carrying mail. In 1837 Postmaster General Amos Kendal directed a change in the seal for the Post Office department. It was Kendall’s vision to show a post horse galloping with mail bags and a rider on top, encircled by the words “Post Office Department, United States of America.

The emblem remained the same until 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the Postal Reorganization Act that converted the Post Office Department into an independent agency of the Executive Branch of government. The United States Postal Service emblem featured a bald Eagle poised for flight sitting above red and blue bars. In between the bars were the words “U.S. Mail,” and surrounding all of the elements are the words “United States Postal Service with nine five – pointed stars.

The official logo from 1970-1993

The emblem remained the same until 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the Postal Reorganization Act that converted the Post Office Department into an independent agency of the Executive Branch of government. The United States Postal Service emblem featured a bald Eagle poised for flight sitting above red and blue bars. In between the bars were the words “U.S. Mail,” and surrounding all of the elements are the words “United States Postal Service with nine five – pointed stars.

In October 1993 Postmaster General Marvin Runyon unveiled new corporate guiding principles and a new corporate signature. The Postal Service’s Vision and Guiding Principles” statements were a combined effort among leaders of postal unions, management associations and postal management designed to focus the organization on the needs of our customer. The corporate signature evolved into a more modern looking version of the former eagle emblem. The signature highlights the Eagle’s head and beak leaning into the wind.