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The Liberation of the Netherlands

  • 28 Apr 2024
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May 5th  marks the anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, Liberation Day is known as Bevrijdingsdag and is celebrated each year on May 5th to mark the day Germany surrendered and ended the Nazi occupation.

The term Holland has frequently been used informally to refer to the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands in various languages, including Dutch and English. In some languages, Holland is used as the formal name for the Netherlands.

From September 1944 – April 1945, the first Canadian Army fought German forces on the Scheldt estuary. They opened the port of Antwerp for Allied use and then cleared the Northern and Western areas of the Netherlands of German troops. Operation Manna began allowing food and other relief to reach millions of desperate people. 

After WW2 broke out in September of 1939, the Netherlands declared neutrality, however the country was invaded and occupied by the Germans. On May 15, 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch Government and the Royal Family sought shelter in London, England. Princess Juliana and her children pursued refuge in Ottawa, Canada until the wars end. 

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands,(Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld), was born at the Civic Hospital in Ottawa, Canada, on  January 19, 1943, the third daughter of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

The delivery room where Princess Margriet was born, was temporarily declared Dutch soil and actual soil from the Netherlands was placed under her Mother’s bed to ensure that the Princess was born on Dutch soil. She was baptised in St Andrew's Church, Ottawa, on June 29th 1943. Her godparents included President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Dutch Merchant Navy, in honour of the role they played during the Second World War.

It was not until August 2nd 1945, when the Netherlands had been liberated, that Princess Margriet, accompanied by her parents and sisters, first set foot on Dutch soil. The family took up residence in Soestdijk Palace in Baarn.

Canada and Holland share a very special relationship, to this date, Holland still sends tulips to Ottawa every year to commemorate the assistance Canada gave to Holland in her time of need during the war. In late April and May, close to one million tulips bloom in Ottawa–Gatineau, creating a dazzling display of colour in the Capital Region.  And that is how Ottawa became known as the tulip capital of Canada and every year the host an annual tulip festival. Where close to one million tulips bloom in Ottawa and Gatineau. 

One of our most popular shirts include the embroidered Liberation of Holland design.

Here is how we came up with the concept of our Embroidered Liberation of Holland design. For Canada’s 150th birthday celebration, the Dutch Government presented Canada with a hybrid white flower with a red pattern representing a maple leaf. So we reversed the concept and made it an orange tulip to represent the house of orange.

House of Orange history:

The orange colour that's present throughout much of Dutch culture is a nod to the Royal Family, which is made up of members of the House of Orange. The dynasty dates back to 1544 when William of Orange inherited the estate and title at the age of 11.

Holland is a fairly young monarchy. Until 1795, the Netherlands was a republic, a federation of states. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was established in 1815, and King William I was its first ruler. The first king of Holland was from the House of Orange-Nassau. The origin of Holland’s motto, ‘Je maintiendrai (“I will maintain”)’, the colours of the flag and the national colour orange may all be found in the House of Orange-Nassau. Princess Beatrix was the reigning monarch for over 30 years. In 2013 her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, succeeded her on the throne.

The red drops in our design represent blood trickling down to form a red maple leaf and to represent the blood lost by Canadian Soldiers that liberated the Netherlands from the Nazis.

We saw the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) logo in commemoration of ANZAC soldiers. The leaf is from a silver fern which is native to New Zealand.

We transformed that concept into a Tulip Leaf with Canadian Soldiers, the original image we used was actually Canadian Soldiers marching on top of a dyke with their reflections in the water.

Anzac Day April 25th is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served".

In our design, or the left shoulder, we finished with the word Holland to represent the Dutch Flag. (Yes we know it is the Netherlands, but it was too big of a word and it didn’t look right so we reverted to Holland to represent the flag).

One of our customers took two of the D-Day Wear shirts to the Dutch Royal Palace in Amsterdam and gave them to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and we were honoured to receive a letter from the Palace in recognition of our design.

We are proud of this design and feel it is one of the best designs we at D-Day Wear have ever created. 

 

SHOP ONLINE:
Buy this design embroidered onto several styles of T-shirts:

A Letter from the Dutch Royal Palace: 

https://www.ddaywear.com/image/cache/catalog/Royal-Netherlands-Letter-From-The-King-And-Queen-Of-Holland-regarding-Freedom-T-Shirt-Liberation-Of-Holland-536x700.jpg


More than 300,000 Canada 150 tulips were planted in National Capital Commission (NCC) flower beds across the region PHOTO BY ERROL MCGIHON /Postmedia



Canadian Soldiers Marching on Dyke Google Images.



The above Lest We Forget remembrance flag is courtesy of TheFlagShop.co.nz



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