1,000 Manitobans to receive Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee commemorative medals

Lieutenant-Governor Janice Filmon is celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee by awarding commemorative medals to Manitobans who have devoted themselves to the betterment of their communities, province, or country.

The province said the commemorative medals celebrate the 70th anniversary year of the Queen’s accession to the throne.

“As the Queen’s representative in Manitoba, I am overjoyed that this provincial commemorative medal will honour the 70th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty as our Queen,” said Lt.-Gov. Filmon in a news release.

The medals are struck in copper, plated with nickel, and feature the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with her Canadian style and title on the front. The back includes the Manitoba shield of arms with the Queen’s royal cypher and dates of her reign at the top separated by a pair of prairie crocuses and the phrase ‘vivat regina,’ which means ‘long live the Queen.’

The province said 1,000 medals will be presented through the Platinum Jubilee year. A ‘select group of trusted partners,’ including Filmon, Premier Heather Stefanson, NDP opposition leader Wab Kinew, MLAs and Indigenous leadership organizations, will select the recipients.

“The anniversary of her seven decades of service to Canada is most certainly an occasion to be celebrated, and with this medal, we are afforded the opportunity to thank and recognize our citizens who have similarly devoted their time and energy in service to others for the betterment of their community, province or country,” Filmon said.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the thrones of seven countries, including Canada.

She is the first monarch in Canada’s modern era to celebrate the milestone.

The Queen has visited Manitoba six times, the first as a princess in 1951 and the most recent in 2010.

More details about the medals and the criteria to receive one can be found on the province’s website.