Upcoming US postage stamp to feature compilation of modern and historic Yellowstone bison

(ABC) — An upcoming U.S. postage stamp will pay homage to the bison — the United States’ national mammal and one of the most iconic wildlife species at Yellowstone National Park.

The new stamp features an image of a modern Yellowstone bison taken by wildlife photographer Tom Murphy, superimposed by a historic image of a bison featured in a stamp created in 1923. The stamp was designed by Greg Breeding, who has served as the art director of postage stamp design since 2012, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

When the Postal Service began calling around and asking for bison photos, an acquaintance of Murphy’s who had worked with the Yellowstone bison passed along the message. The first submissions Murphy sent were declined. But the next batch he sent contained the “perfect” shot of a young bull in Hayden Valley, a vast grassland in central Yellowstone, Murphy told ABC News.

Murphy’s photo contains the background of a clean sky and “magnificent” grass, elements that echo the 1923 “American Buffalo” stamp, Breeding said in a statement. Converting the entire image to sepia gives the stamp a “historic” look — converging the historic style with the contemporary image, Murphy said.

Bison, also commonly called buffalo, are “uniquely tied to American History,” according to the USPS. Native Americans who lived in the Great Plains were intertwined with buffalo herds for “millennia,” crafting their hides into clothing and tipis and utilizing their bones and horns for tools.

What was once millions of bison living in the U.S. dwindled to the hundreds as Americans continued to settle westward, according to the USPS. Market hunting and the U.S. Army nearly caused bison to go extinct, according to the National Park Service.

But efforts to replenish herds at Yellowstone and other refuges have restored wild herds.

Yellowstone, the only place in the U.S. where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times, contains the largest wild buffalo herd in the country. The population estimate was 5,400 in 2024, according to the NPS.

Bison are among the “top ten” Yellowstone wildlife species Murphy prefers to photograph, in addition to chickadees, coyotes and magpies.

“They’re amazing creatures,” Murphy said.

The original 1923 stamp, which was worth 30 cents, was based on a diorama featured in the Smithsonian from 1888 to 1957 that contained a large bison bull, Murphy said. The same image was featured on the 1901 “Bison note,” a $10 legal tender note.

The “American Bison” Forever stamp will be released at the end of May, Murphy said.

Fifteen million stamps are expected to be printed — more if they prove to be popular, Murphy added.

“They’re going to be on every post office in the United States,” Murphy said. “I mean, that’s kind of overwhelming to think about.”