Australia has a colorful new circulating commemorative $2 coin, this one showcasing the Aboriginal flag.

The Royal Australian Mint on Nov. 24 announced its release of the circulating $2 commemorative 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 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 represented on the coin with the black and red fields printed over a relief pattern of miniature flags. The center of the coin is left bare, allowing the golden color of the coin’s alloy to shine through as a representation of the flag’s central yellow sun motif.

Two million of the 50th Anniversary of the Aboriginal Flag $2 colorful circulating coins will enter circulation over the coming months.

Australia’s $2 coin depicts the Jody Clark effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.

The copper-aluminum-nickel coin weighs 6.6 grams and measures 20.5 millimeters in diameter.

Proof and Uncirculated coin sets including the colorful coin will be available soon. Due to lockdown restrictions in the Australian Capital Territory, the RAM is experiencing delays in filling orders and shipping domestically and internationally.

For more details, visit the RAM webstore, https://eshop.ramint.gov.au/.

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