NALC Calendar 2027: USPS Color Coded Calendar 2027 and 2026

NALC calendar 2027: where to get the official color coded calendar

Two kinds of “NALC calendar” exist, and people search for both:

• The NALC calendar card, published by the National Association of Letter Carriers. It is a wallet-size card with pay dates, pay periods and holidays, plus space to record overtime and leave. The 2026 card is on nalc.org. The 2026 card was printed in October 2025, so the 2027 card is likely to appear on nalc.org in late 2026.
• The color coded calendar that shows each rotating schedule’s days off in its own color. NALC branches print these for their members; for example, Branch 2200’s 2026 color calendar (PDF). Ask your branch or steward for the 2027 edition, because colors differ from branch to branch.

2027 colors: check the official NALC calendar. As of October 21, 2026, we could not find a 2027 color coded calendar from NALC or USPS. We will add the 2027 month-by-month calendar here once an official one is out. Until then, do not rely on any site that shows 2027 colors without naming its source.

How the USPS rotating day off works

City letter carriers on a rotating schedule are split into six groups. Each group is a schedule, usually labeled with a letter (A to F) and printed in its own color. The pattern below is how the six-week cycle appears on NALC branch color calendars for 2026:

1. Sunday is off every week.
2. You get one rotating day off per week, and it moves one day later each week: Monday, then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
3. After a Friday, your next rotating day is the next day, Saturday. That gives you Friday, Saturday and Sunday off in a row, a three-day weekend once every six weeks.
4. The cycle then restarts on Monday a week later. With six schedules, one schedule has its rotating day off on each day from Monday to Saturday.

The colors are only a printing convention. One branch calendar uses light blue, red, gold, green, navy and yellow for schedules A to F; another uses a different set. Go by the schedule letter or color your office assigned you, on your own branch’s calendar. Local agreements can change the details, so your steward has the final word.

Holidays interrupt the pattern: when a holiday lands on your scheduled workday, you get the holiday off, and when it lands on your day off, USPS leave rules (below) move it.

USPS holidays 2027

USPS observes the same 11 holidays as the federal government. They are listed in section 518.1 of the USPS Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM).

Holiday	Date in 2027	Day	Note
New Year’s Day	January 1	Friday
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday	January 18	Monday
Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day)	February 15	Monday
Memorial Day	May 31	Monday
Juneteenth National Independence Day	June 19	Saturday	Saturday holiday (see rule below)
Independence Day	July 4	Sunday	Sunday holiday (see rule below)
Labor Day	September 6	Monday
Columbus Day	October 11	Monday
Veterans Day	November 11	Thursday
Thanksgiving Day	November 25	Thursday
Christmas Day	December 25	Saturday	Saturday holiday (see rule below)

Weekend holidays and your day off. The ELM (section 518.2) covers holidays that fall on an employee’s non-scheduled day: “When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed as the holiday,” and “When a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is observed as the holiday.” A holiday that falls on one of your scheduled workdays is observed on that day (section 518.3). Rural carriers and postmasters have their own sections of the rule.

These rules decide your holiday leave. They do not say whether post offices and mail delivery close on the Friday or the Saturday. USPS has not published its 2027 public holiday schedule yet, so for June 18–19 and December 24–25, 2027, check usps.com closer to the date.

USPS pay dates in 2027

USPS pays every other Friday. The last 2026 payday on the NALC calendar card is Friday, December 18, 2026, so the two-week cycle next lands on Friday, January 1, 2027, which is New Year’s Day. The 2027 NALC calendar card will list the actual pay dates; check it before you count on a date. Bank deposits follow the Federal Reserve holiday schedule.

USPS color coded calendar 2026

The 2026 calendar, month by month, with the holidays and paydays for each month. Tap a month to see it, tap the image to enlarge it, or download it to print.

The 2026 images use yellow, blue, green, orange, red and black for the six schedules. Match them to your own schedule using a day you know you had off.

USPS holidays 2026

Holiday	Date in 2026	Day
New Year’s Day	January 1	Thursday
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday	January 19	Monday
Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day)	February 16	Monday
Memorial Day	May 25	Monday
Juneteenth National Independence Day	June 19	Friday (also a payday)
Independence Day	July 4	Saturday
Labor Day	September 7	Monday
Columbus Day	October 12	Monday
Veterans Day	November 11	Wednesday
Thanksgiving Day	November 26	Thursday
Christmas Day	December 25	Friday

USPS paydays in 2026 fall on alternate Fridays from January 2 to December 18, as listed on the NALC calendar card. January and July each have three paydays.

Questions about the NALC and USPS calendars

When does the NALC calendar 2027 come out?

NALC has not posted it yet (checked October 21, 2026). The 2026 calendar card was printed in October 2025, so the 2027 card is likely in late 2026. Branch color calendars come from your local branch and follow their own timing.

Are the colors the same in every branch?

No. The six-week rotation is the same idea everywhere, but the colors printed for each schedule differ between branch calendars. Use the calendar from your own branch, and confirm your schedule with your supervisor or steward.

Is the post office closed on Friday, June 18, 2027?

Not known yet. Juneteenth falls on Saturday, June 19, 2027. USPS leave rules move the holiday to Friday for employees whose Saturday is a day off, but USPS has not published which days post offices and delivery close in 2027. Federal offices are closed on Friday, June 18; the Federal Reserve and most banks are open.

How many holidays does USPS have in 2027?

Eleven, the same as every year: the federal holidays listed in section 518.1 of the USPS Employee and Labor Relations Manual. Three of them fall on a weekend in 2027: Juneteenth and Christmas on a Saturday, Independence Day on a Sunday.

Related calendars

• US bank holidays (Federal Reserve schedule), for when your direct deposit lands
• US federal holidays 2025–2030
• Holidays: what’s open and closed, including USPS on each holiday
• Business days in 2027
• Business days calculator to count working days between two dates

Sources (last checked October 21, 2026): USPS Employee and Labor Relations Manual, section 518 (holidays), NALC 2026 calendar card, NALC Branch 2200 2026 color calendar, NALC Branch 2462 color coded calendars, National Association of Letter Carriers.