The newest PostNL stamps are dedicated to Juliana der Nederlanden, who was queen of our country from 1948 to 1980. She plays the leading role on all stamps, as daughter, princess, mother, queen and at important moments such as the inauguration and abdication.
The issue of the Juliana of the Netherlands stamp sheetlet coincides with the opening of the exhibition The Century of Juliana, a Queen and Her Ideals in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. The exhibition is on view to the public from Saturday October 15 to Sunday April 9, 2023.
Ten decades
The Juliana der Nederlanden stamp sheet contains ten stamps in ten different designs. The ten decades of the century in which Juliana of the Netherlands lived were used as the layout for the design. Her whole life is depicted on the stamps, from Juliana as a baby to her last years.
Titles
Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina (1909-2004) was Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980. She is the grandmother of the current King Willem-Alexander and the mother of former Queen Beatrix. As queen and head of state, she played an important role in the reconstruction period of the 1950s, the rebellious 1960s and the turbulent 1970s.
Transition in content and form
The century of Juliana was a turbulent period, with many transitions to new times. āFrom war to reconstruction, from crisis to revivalā, according to Anne Schaufeli from Velp, who designed the stamps together with Huub de Lang. āTransition was therefore a key word for us, in content and form. This has been emphasized by alternately applying blue and black, alternating sharp and blurry images, and portraying the front photo as a leaf about to turn. Just like leafing through a historical document.ā