Originally designed to commemorate 100 years of peace between English speaking nations in 1914, the WWI cancelled the idea. It was not until after WWI was concluded that the idea could be put back on the table. There were calls from philatelists and the press for a stamp to celebrate the peace that greeted 1919 so it seemed natural to resurrect this peace stamp.

But the design had to be changed. First and foremost, not to offend our European allies, it was decided not to put the US flag front and center as it would give the impression that it was America that had won the war. So the US flag was tucked behind an allegorical figure of Victory. Four allies flags were chosen to flank Victory, Britain and France having the prominent outside positions with the lesser allies, Belgium and Italy filling in the space between. Belgium coming before Italy as it entered the war first.

It turned out that this design was overthought and overworked. It resulted in a crowded design made worse by the fact that due to obtaining good quality ink was impossible after the war ended, created a less than ideal stamp. The stamp was critically panned and was not popular with the public. The Post Office issued instructions to its postmasters not to use it as the default 3¢ stamp but to only sell it if specifically asked for.

A full pane 100 of #537, there are four panes to a sheet of 400

A first day of issue cover, March 3rd, 1919

Bust of George Washington
by Jean-Antoine Houdon
1785
The source of the design