The coat of arms on Australian coins

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From Wikipedia:

Following the federation of Australia, the first official coat of arms of Australia was granted by King Edward VII on 7 May 1908. It consisted of a shield in the centre, the seven pointed star on a wreath as the crest above it, and a kangaroo, with an emu using its foot to help the kangaroo to support the shield, all on a bed of green grass with a scroll containing the motto "Advance Australia". The selection of the kangaroo, the emu and the words, "Advance Australia" was tied together symbolically. The shield had a white background, with a red cross of Saint George, blue lines outside the cross, and a blue border containing six inescutcheons featuring a red chevron on white, representing the six states of Australia.

The seven pointed star seen at the crest is usually known as the Commonwealth Star of the Federation Star.

From Wikipedia:

The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901.

Six points of the Star represent the six original states of the Commonwealth of Australia, while the seventh point represents the territories and any other future states of Australia. The original star had only six points; however, the proclamation in 1905 of the Territory of Papua led to the addition of the seventh point in 1909 to represent it and future territories. The Commonwealth Star is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Australian flag, as opposed to the similar flag of New Zealand.

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In September 1912 Australia adopted an amended coat of arms.

From Wikipedia:

The escutcheon is the focal point of the coat of arms, contained within is the badge of each Australian state, the whole surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states.

In the top half, from left to right, the states represented are: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. In the bottom half, from left to right: South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. Above the shield is the seven-pointed Commonwealth Star or Star of Federation above a blue and gold wreath, forming the crest. Six of the points on the star represent the original six states, while the seventh point represents the combined territories and any future states of Australia. In its entirety the shield represents the federation of Australia.

The Red Kangaroo and Emu that support the shield have never been designated as official animal emblems of the nation. They owe their unofficial recognition to the fact that they are native Australian fauna (found only on that continent), and likely chosen because they are the most well-known native Australian animals large enough to be positioned together in scale holding up the shield. They were chosen to symbolise a nation moving forward, based on the fact that neither animal can move backwards easily – i.e. symbolising progress. It has been claimed that the kangaroo is, and must be seen to be, male.

In the background is wreath of Golden Wattle, the official national floral emblem, though the representation of the species is not botanically accurate. At the bottom of the coat of arms is a scroll that contains the name of the nation. Neither the wreath of wattle nor the scroll are technically part of the design, because they are not described on the Royal Warrant that grants the armorial design.

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From Wikipedia:

Acacia pycnantha, commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae that is native to southeastern Australia. It grows to a height of 8 m (26 ft) and has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) instead of true leaves.

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The first official coins of the Commonwealth of Australia were issued in 1910. The reverse of the sixpence, shilling and florin showed the coat of arms.

See: Predecimal coinage of the Commonwealth of Australia.

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In 1938, Australian redesigned it coins. Curiously, however, it left the reverse of the sixpence unchanged. As a result, the sixpence was issued with an outmoded coat of arms until its demise in 1965.


The coat of arms on the florin was updated in 1938. Strangely, the Commonwealth Star, which should have formed the crest, was replaced by the monarch's Imperial State Crown.

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When the decimal 50 cents was issued in 1966, it showed an updated version of the coat of arms. Even so, the version that appeared on the coin was highly stylised in various respects, if you compare it to the official version.

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The design was left unchanged when the coin became 12-sided in 1969.

See also: The decimal coinage of Australia.