New Coin Celebrating Belfast...

Just got wind today of this new £1 coin celebrating my native city of Belfast. It has elements of the city's coat of arms on it, with a prominent sailing ship reminding us of Belfast's maritime and shipbuilding heritage... Slightly more fitting than the irony-free continual evocation of the Titanic everywhere you go here. I do find it amusing that the coin on the first day cover isn't quite level, suggesting that this sailing ship might head the way of the Titanic as well.

But it did set me thinking what the coin would have looked like had it been designed by locals... or indeed those who only know Belfast from the news headlines. Balaclava clad gunmen? Peace walls? RUC Landrovers? Orange marches? Bonfires?

Thankfully we don't feature in the international headlines quite so often these days and perhaps need to get on with fashioning an identity free of those images. But could I also ask for a moratorium on images of the Titanic, the Somme and George Best... Even C.S. Lewis (a favourite author of mine) is becoming a bit hackneyed as the "positive" image of Belfast...

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Comments

jools said…

Mountains - I love the mountains that surround the lough ... gorgeous!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 2:21:00 AM

Virtual Methodist said…

Absolutely... They were what I missed most in my years in Edinburgh... being able to look towards the end of most streets and seeing the hills (when you could see them past the rainclouds that is!) A real Psalm 121 thing... Mind you, with the change in the skyline these days those vantage points are becoming more limited...

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 3:16:00 AM

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Virtual Methodist

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