Description: This stamp is a 5-cent (5 C) definitive issue from the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Nederland). Printed via a fine typography process on a solid olive-green field, the monochromatic layout frames a direct, forward-facing portrait (en face) of Queen Juliana, who served as head of state from 1948 until her abdication in the spring of 1980. Her likeness is layered over a highly detailed security lattice pattern composed of intertwined royal monograms, displaying her initials beneath a stylized Dutch crown. The denomination value "5 C" is cleanly nested directly below her beaded necklace, while the country name "NEDERLAND" frames the bottom edge in clean serif typography. A faint, wavy machine postmark scales horizontally across the middle of the stamp face, marking its regular postal circulation.
Circa: Mid 20th Century
Condition: Used - Hinged
Notes:
During the World War II Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Princess Juliana fled with her young children to Ottawa, Canada, where her third daughter, Princess Margriet, was born in a local hospital room temporarily declared extraterritorial by the Canadian government so the child would retain sole Dutch citizenship.
To express her deep gratitude to Canada for sheltering her family and helping liberate her homeland, Juliana sent 100,000 Dutch tulip bulbs to Ottawa in 1945, a historic gesture that birthed Canada’s annual Canadian Tulip Festival which still thrives today.
Ascending the throne in 1948, she broke rigid royal protocols by insisting on being addressed as "Madam" rather than "Your Majesty," sent her children to public school, and was famously photographed riding her bicycle through the streets of The Hague.