Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late Jewish Supreme Court justice, has been honoured with a new stamp. 

The United States Postal Service (USPS) released the new Forever stamp honouring the liberal icon, who died in 2020.

The stamp became available for purchase on Monday and shows a portrait of Ginsburg wearing her black judge’s robe and signature white collar. The portrait was drawn by Michael Deas.

The release came just over three years after Ginsburg’s death at 87. Her death, from pancreatic cancer, came on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

USPS said: “Honour an icon of American culture with this new Ruth Bader Ginsburg stamp.

“She began her career as an activist lawyer fighting gender discrimination. She went on to become a judge who was unafraid to disagree with her colleagues. 

“Ginsburg gained a reputation as a respected voice for equal justice.”

Ginsburg, who was appointed by former US President Bill Clinton, served on the nation’s top court from 1993 until her death in September 2020. She was the court’s second female justice, after Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Brought up within the Conservative Jewish tradition, Ginsburg studied Hebrew, attending Jewish summer camps and becoming a camp counsellor. But, forbidden to join a minyan to say Kaddish on her mother’s death, she moved away from strict observance, while retaining a strong Jewish identity.

The Ginsburg stamp costs $.66 and was fully unveiled at an official unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC on Monday. 

The USPS special edition stamps commemorating notable Americans have included many Jews, including the physicist Richard Feynman in 2005, cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg in 1995 and, in 1991, comedian Fanny Brice, the inspiration for the musical 'Funny Girl'.