Diamond Jubilee Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, this commemorative medal served to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians. During the year of celebrations, 60 000 deserving Canadians were recognized.
To ensure that a variety of fields of activity were recognized, partner organizations were invited by the Government of Canada to nominate candidates from their community or organization for this national honour.
The obverse depicts a crowned image of the Sovereign, in whose name the medal is bestowed. The reverse marks the sixtieth, or diamond, anniversary of the accession to the Throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The anniversary is expressed by the central diamond shape, by the background composed of a pattern of diamonds, and by the two dates. The Royal Cypher consists of the Royal Crown above the letters EIIR (i.e., Elizabeth II Regina, the latter word meaning Queen in Latin). The maple leaves refer to Canada, while the motto VIVAT REGINA means “Long live The Queen!”
The ribbon uses a new arrangement of the blue, red and white colours found in the 1953 Coronation Medal, the 1977 Silver Jubilee Medal, and the 2002 Golden Jubilee Medal.
The design of the medal was developed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The medal was manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint at their Ottawa facility.
The Diamond Jubilee Medal program closed on February 28, 2013. Once all the information is compiled, a searchable database of all 60,000 recipients and their locations will be available on our website, as is the case for other national honours.