This Official First Day Cover features the 13¢ Missouri state flag stamp issued during the U.S. Bicentennial Era. The cover is postmarked February 23, 1976, in Washington, DC, and bears a handsome cachet illustrating the statue of Thomas Hart Benton alongside the Missouri flag and the date Missouri entered the Union as the twenty-fourth state in 1821.
Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858) served as Missouri’s first U.S. Senator and was a leading advocate for westward expansion and agrarian interests in the antebellum period. His long political career helped shape early Missouri statehood and national policy toward the American frontier.
The cachet’s artwork highlights Benton’s statue in St. Louis and includes the “Bicentennial Era 1776-1976” inscription, tying the issue to the nation’s 200th anniversary celebrations. The stamp itself reproduces the Missouri flag with its distinctive red, white, and blue stripes and central coat of arms.
A fine addition for collectors of state-flag topicals, Missouri postal history, or Bicentennial-era First Day Covers, this example remains in clean, collectible condition with a crisp postmark and attractive cachet design.
