LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Royal Mint unveiled a special new commemorative rainbow-coloured 50 pence coin on Wednesday as a tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pride UK movement.
The coin, designed by east London artist and LGBTQ+ activist Dominique Holmes, uses state-of-the-art printing technology to emboss it with the colours of the Pride progress flag.
“It humbles me greatly that the words that I coined for the brand – protest, visibility, unity and equality – will be on an actual coin, opposite the queen,” Asad Shaykh, Director of Marketing and Communications at Pride in London said.
“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.”
The coin honours the anniversary of the first official Pride UK event in 1972 and is the first to be dedicated to Britain’s LGBTQ+ community.
The commemorative 50p ($0.62) coin will not enter circulation but will be available to purchase online.
($1 = 0.8061 pounds)
(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by Michael Holden)
