An online petition seeks to have a sign made by Boston Marathon bombing victim Martin Richard turned into a postage stamp.

Martin, 8, was the youngest of the three people killed in the 2013 bombing during the race. After he died, a picture of him that was widely circulated showed him holding up a sign he made that read, “No more hurting people. Peace.” The new stamp would have the sign printed on it, as well as Martin’s name.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, 773 people had signed the Change.org petition, nearing its 1,000-signature goal. Bill Richard, Martin’s father, is shown as one of the people who signed, and the Martin Richard Foundation linked to the petition on Facebook.


“One of the most effective ways to get Martin’s message out to the world would be through the issuance of the Martin Richard Memorial Peace Stamp,” the petition says. “A stamp displaying the handmade sign he created with his simple, to the point message. Imagine how many people handle a letter on its journey from sender to receiver, everyone seeing Martin’s message, having to think, even if only momentarily, about peace!”

The stamp does face a couple of hurdles from the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, which approves stamps. The CSAC prohibits stamps that include negative events, so the effort for Martin’s stamp focuses on his positive message, the petition says. The committee also prohibits stamp design submissions; the initiative for this new stamp is asking for an exception.

“This image set the course, in the immediate days after a terrorist attack, toward a movement of hope, resilience and peace that helped a city and nation move forward in support of those who most needed it rather than turn toward hate and anger of those that acted out the heinous attack,” the petition says.