MC France 1944 "1F50 Marianne de Londres - Leading the People, Delacroix" ⦾ Paris Republique (W2-FR691-C10)

The "Marianne de Dulac" (or Marianne de Londres) was designed in 1943 at the request of General de Gaulle

The provisional series of common postage stamps "Marianne de Dulac" or "Marianne de Londres" bearing the image of Marianne, an allegorical figure of the French Republic and bearing a Cross of Lorraine, had been designed in 1943 at the request of General de Gaulle, with the agreement of the British government.

This series is one of those intended to replace the stamps bearing the image of Pétain and those celebrating the values ​​of the Vichy regime.

These stamps, which were to be representative of post-war France and the peace restored, symbolized by two friezes of olive branches, were designed by the illustrator Edmond Dulac and printed in London. The intaglio engraving is a first for a common French stamp.

The series was used in liberated France from September 16, 1944, for the 1F50 pink-currant (Yvert No. 691) which franked "simple" letters and in 1945 for the nineteen others with values ​​from 50c to 50F (Yvert No. 682/690 and 692/701). This provisional series was withdrawn from sale on August 17, 1946, except for the 50 F sold until November 15, 1947.