Zonnebloem — Sunflower Art T-Shirt | Specimen & Issue

Fifty gulden, payable in sunlight.

The Netherlands’ 1982 sunflower note is called Zonnebloem, which means precisely what it looks like. Its designers, Ootje Oxenaar and Hans Kruit, gave a banknote the bright confidence of a garden: yellow, orange, a sunflower, a bee. On the reverse, the landscape becomes a pattern of fields. A country accustomed to making land had found a particularly handsome way to put it on paper.

There is a further small extravagance. DNB’s museum notes that running a fingernail over the raised orange linework on the original note’s reverse can produce a buzzing sound. The bee had been given something like a voice. A banknote with a private joke in its printing: this is the sort of discovery that makes a collector lean closer.

Our chest specimen keeps the fifty-gulden identity. On the back, the sunflower grows beyond its former borders, visited by its small companion and joined by green leaves, violet geometry, and the orange 50. The result carries the note’s generous idea into daily wear: public money was allowed to be exuberant.

SPECIMEN & ISSUE — A Breach in Taste

Real currencies, encountered twice: an adapted archival specimen at the left chest and an original artistic interpretation across the back.

THE SHIRT

Comfort Colors 1717 garment-dyed unisex tee with a relaxed fit and substantial 6.1 oz, 100% ring-spun cotton fabric. Front chest print and large back print. Available in Black, White, Ivory, Pepper, Blue Spruce, Orchid, in sizes S–4XL. Check the size chart for your preferred fit.

CARE

Machine wash cold. Do not bleach. Tumble dry low. Use low heat if ironing; avoid ironing directly over the print. Do not dry clean.

This original artwork was developed by A Breach in Taste using AI-assisted image generation, human creative direction, and human editing.

A Breach in Taste — Ideas, in Shirt Form.

Explore all eight Specimen & Issue designs and their specimen notes →