Andorra

2020

Commemorative coin

50 years of Universal Female Suffrage

Official Journal of the European Union

The design of the coin shows a female face inside a wrapper of endless moving lines. These lines are formed by female names in Catalan language close together, making it difficult to read them individually, as a tribute to solidarity of women in the fight for their rights. There is one repeated name only, that of ‘VICTORIA’ and symbolises the victory of gaining the right to vote. The inscriptions ‘50 ANYS DEL SUFRAGI UNIVERSAL FEMENÍ’ (50 years of Universal Female Suffrage) and ‘ANDORRA 1970 - 2020’ complete the design. These inscriptions are also incorporated into the movement of the lines in a way, in order to give more importance to the anniversary that is being commemorated. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

Since 1933, Andorran men over the age of 27 had the right to vote. With the beginning of feminist movements in European countries, on 18 May 1967 a group of Andorran women demanded the signing of a petition to the General Council of the Valleys that Parliament grant them the right to vote and the right to be elected. They received a total of 378 signatures from women over 25 years of age, i.e. with the right to sign. The General Council did not react to the initiative until 4 July 1969, when the right to vote was recognised for women, but not their eligibility for election. On 14 April 1970 it was decreed that "all women who have full Andorran citizenship have the right to vote on equal terms with men". The first election with the right to vote for women took place on 14 December 1971. On 24 May 1973, the General Council recognised the right of Andorran women to stand for election. The coin depicts the face of a woman, framed by curved lines consisting of consecutive Catalan female first names. This is intended to symbolise solidarity for women in the fight for their rights.

Edge lettering

Designer