The Royal Australian Mint (the Mint) has announced the release of a $2 commemorative circulating coin to mark 50 years since the first raising of the Aboriginal Flag in 1971.
Royal Australian Mint CEO, Leigh Gordon, highlighted the importance of the flag as a unifying symbol for Aboriginal Australians and the broader community.
“The Aboriginal Flag is a cherished symbol of contemporary Australian Aboriginal identity, unity and pride, and this commemorative coin will serve as an enduring acknowledgement of our shared history,” said Mr Gordon.
The Australian Aboriginal Flag was first flown in 1971 at a land rights march in Adelaide’s Victoria Square, and appeared again the following year at the beginnings of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
The flag was defiantly carried by Cathy Freeman when she won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and in 2000 it flew atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge as more than 250,000 people marched in solidarity beneath it.
Harold Thomas’ iconic flag design is strikingly represented on the coin with the black and red fields printed over a relief pattern of miniature flags. The centre of the coin has been left ‘print-free’ allowing the gold of the coin’s alloy to shine through as a unique representation of the central yellow sun motif.
Two million of the 50th Anniversary of the Aboriginal Flag – 2021 $2 Coloured Circulating Coin will enter circulation over the coming months.
