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Description
My headcanon is that Netherlands' birthday is January 30 1648, when the 80 years war ended and Netherlands' independence from Spain was recognized in the Peace of Münster.

I remember back in like 2012, one of my first fanarts of Netherlands was for this day but then someone told me that his birthday should be July 25, when the Netherlands declared independence in 1581 and that the countries' birthdays are the date they declared their independence. Being the wee baby I was back then, I apologized and went with the July birthday for quite some time but I recently started roleplaying as Ned and I thought a lot about if I really wanted that as his birthday. I realized that no, I don't really want it and I much prefer this date. I have no reason not to use this, it doesn't make less sense than the other. Neither dates are actually official holidays and most Dutch people I've spoken to weren't even really aware of the July 25 thing (the person that told me about it wasn't Dutch btw). As for the countries' independence days being their birthdays - that's not canon either. It seems like Himaruya's choices for their birthdays are actually pretty random. He made July 4 America's birthday, which makes sense but then he made June 8 Hungary's birthday, which was the date when Austria-Hungary was founded, so it's like the opposite of an independence day (and very inaccurate but that's a whole other rant). So, we can't know for sure which date Himaruya would've used as Ned's birthday if he ever bothered to give him one. I think January 30 is just as legit as July 25. I personally use this date because it's when the 80 Years War ended and Ned just feels more a winter person to me but if you use July 25, that's fine too. I also saw people use May 5 (Liberation day) or April 29 (King's/Queen's Day) and I think those work as well. I also like to think that nations can chose their birthdays and it can change, since their "real" birthdays have probably been long lost to time anyway. And this is why I don't like fanon sometimes, because people will pressure you into adapting to their headcanons, even though yours aren't technically incorrect, just not as common. Creative freedom is important, especially when it comes to already existing characters and different headcanons (as long as they're not totally incorrect) should be encouraged, not policed.

This rambling turned out longer than I intended but I really needed to get it off my chest.

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Hetalia: Himaruya
Tumblr post: paarsetulpen.tumblr.com/post/1…

Description
My headcanon is that Netherlands' birthday is January 30 1648, when the 80 years war ended and Netherlands' independence from Spain was recognized in the Peace of Münster.

I remember back in like 2012, one of my first fanarts of Netherlands was for this day but then someone told me that his birthday should be July 25, when the Netherlands declared independence in 1581 and that the countries' birthdays are the date they declared their independence. Being the wee baby I was back then, I apologized and went with the July birthday for quite some time but I recently started roleplaying as Ned and I thought a lot about if I really wanted that as his birthday. I realized that no, I don't really want it and I much prefer this date. I have no reason not to use this, it doesn't make less sense than the other. Neither dates are actually official holidays and most Dutch people I've spoken to weren't even really aware of the July 25 thing (the person that told me about it wasn't Dutch btw). As for the countries' independence days being their birthdays - that's not canon either. It seems like Himaruya's choices for their birthdays are actually pretty random. He made July 4 America's birthday, which makes sense but then he made June 8 Hungary's birthday, which was the date when Austria-Hungary was founded, so it's like the opposite of an independence day (and very inaccurate but that's a whole other rant). So, we can't know for sure which date Himaruya would've used as Ned's birthday if he ever bothered to give him one. I think January 30 is just as legit as July 25. I personally use this date because it's when the 80 Years War ended and Ned just feels more a winter person to me but if you use July 25, that's fine too. I also saw people use May 5 (Liberation day) or April 29 (King's/Queen's Day) and I think those work as well. I also like to think that nations can chose their birthdays and it can change, since their "real" birthdays have probably been long lost to time anyway. And this is why I don't like fanon sometimes, because people will pressure you into adapting to their headcanons, even though yours aren't technically incorrect, just not as common. Creative freedom is important, especially when it comes to already existing characters and different headcanons (as long as they're not totally incorrect) should be encouraged, not policed.

This rambling turned out longer than I intended but I really needed to get it off my chest.

---
Hetalia: Himaruya
Tumblr post: paarsetulpen.tumblr.com/post/1…