Duck Stamps

Federal, State, and US Duck Stamp Contest

After the inception of the Federal Duck Stamp program in 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Jay .Ding. Darling to create the design for the first duck stamp, depicting two mallards. This continued, with different artists designing the beautiful duck stamps, until this process was opened to the public in 1949. Artists would mail their designs in, and if chosen, their work would be used on the next year's duck stamp. Today, thousands of arists submit their entries every year. The designs must be 10 inches by 7 inches. Every year, a different topic is given, so the artists must pick from the available species of ducks.

The winner of the contest receive a pane of the stamps with their design on it. While this doesn't seem like much compensation or incentive at first glance, the real value of winning is in the value of the original painting. Generally, if the stamp is printed, the original artwork is worth a significant amount and is highly sought after by collectors. The runner up entries are also put on tour, so the artists submitting generally get good exposure for their work.

Here are the official rules for the contest.