The District of Columbia is a diamond among cities — the vibrant and dynamic capital of the United States.

The U.S. Postal Service will issue a new 37-cent diamond-shaped commemorative postage stamp featuring familiar sites in the District of Columbia within the diamond.

The original 100-square-mile tract of land chosen to be the nation’s capital was diamond shaped. The land for the district was ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia. About one-third of that land was later returned to Virginia — and the diamond shape was no more.

The new stamp depicts in its top quadrant a detail from a plan of Washington developed by Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1791. The right quadrant shows typical row houses in a Washington neighborhood. Cherry blossoms fill the bottom quadrant. The left quadrant displays a view along the National Mall featuring three of the country’s most widely recognized structures — the U.S. Capitol building, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

The District of Columbia was named for Christopher Columbus. President George Washington selected the exact site where the capital city would be built, the city that eventually bore his name.

The 2003 District of Columbia stamp will be available in a unique 16-stamp pane at post offices across the country beginning Sept. 23.