Waiting for the photos to be sure, but I'll concur with Paris. Fender did about 6 different "limited run" colors with matching headstocks on the American Standards in 1995/96 - what they did was pick 2 colors and run them for 6 months, then they did another 2 colors for the next 6 months, etc.

If your's is red, then it was likely one of the colors for the first 6 months of 1996, which coincided with the "50th Anniversary of Fender". Fender put the gold madillion on the back of the headstock of all guitars made that year.

I have a 95 American Standard with the gold medallion on the headstock. Maybe it was assembled in late 95 or early 96?

Remember Fender makes parts in bulk. Your guitar could have easily been put together in '96, but the neck was mostlikely made in '95.

That's why even if you have a S/N of 00001 it doesn't mean that you have the very first Strat made. The builder grabbed whatever neck plate they happened to grab.

Paris

True enough. I also have a Strat Plus that has an 88 serial number on the headstock, but the stamps inside are January 89. Kinda like new car models.