(Image courtesy of The Royal Mint)
The Royal Mint revealed May 18 a commemorative 50 pence coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pride UK. This coin marks the first time Britain’s LGBTQ community has been celebrated on official UK coinage, and forms part of The Royal Mint’s wider commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The coin is designed by Dominique Holmes, an east London artist, writer and LGBTQ activist with a varied artistic background that includes tattoo artistry. The coin design features Pride in London’s values of Protest, Visibility, Unity and Equality in rainbows. With state-of-the-art color printing technology, the iconic colors of the Pride progression flag are recreated with special-edition color versions of the silver and BU coins.
It is the first time the LGBTQ+ community has been celebrated on an official UK coin. https://t.co/15at8tIwRM
— BBC London (@BBCLondonNews) May 18, 2022
Since the first official Pride UK event in 1972, the movement has been one of significant political and cultural importance. Now in its 50th year, Pride UK is more popular than ever and continues to fight against societal oppression and stand up for rights of the LGBTQ community.
As part of the launch, The Royal Mint will make a financial contribution to London LGBT Community Pride. The 50p will not enter circulation but will be available to purchase via The Royal Mint website this summer.
“It was a privilege to visit The Royal Mint as part of our partnership and see our coin being made,” said Asad Shaykh, Director of Marketing and Communications at Pride in London. “It humbles me greatly that the words that I coined for the brand, PROTEST, VISIBILITY, UNITY & EQUALITY – will be on an actual coin, opposite the Queen. This queer brown immigrant has come a long way, powered by hope, love and this city. Nowhere in the world had this been possible, except the UK. Pride in London feels very proud today.”
Clare Maclennan, Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint, called the anniversary a “milestone celebration.”
“This is the first ever UK coin dedicated to Britain’s LGBTQ+ community, with color printing technology capturing the spirit of Pride UK with its iconic rainbow colors,” Maclennan said. “It was an honour to host representatives from Pride in London at The Royal Mint recently to strike their own coins as part of the launch and discuss with them our commitment to diversity and inclusion within the business and show how we are reinventing for the future.”
The launch of the new LGBTQ coin forms part of The Royal Mint’s wider commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Alongside D&I training for all employees, a network of D&I Champions has been established to support The Royal Mint’s wider vision of celebrating differences for an inclusive future.
This commitment also extends to an LGBTQ society for employees at The Royal Mint; established last year. Named “Enfys,” the Welsh word for Rainbow, the group has hosted Q+A sessions, shared their personal stories and encouraged visibility and allyship amongst employees.
To find out more information about the 50th Anniversary of Pride 50p and to register for updates, please visit The Royal Mint website.
