Saturday, January 25, 2025 – Belize has taken a “significant step” toward removing iotas of colonialism by replacing the image of the late Queen Elizabeth on its dollar bills with those of national heroes.
Unveiling the new design of the bank notes late on Thursday,
January 23, the governor of Belize’s central bank, Kareem Michael, said that
along with improved security and anti-counterfeit features, the “new family of
notes also allows us to recognize and celebrate our heritage and the rich
history of Belize”.
The new notes will go into circulation in June. Instead of
the queen’s image, the new 100-, 20- and five-dollar bills will feature George
Cadle Price, who was the first prime minister of the country and is considered
the father of independence from British rule.
Fifty-, ten and two-dollar bills will bear the likeness of
Philip Goldson, a founding member of the country’s major political parties, the
People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party, who is celebrated as a
champion of national pride.
Belize’s prime minister, Johnny Briceño, said the new images
“exemplify our national heroes who symbolize our resistance”.
Speaking to local media he said: “I know some people will
say, ‘We don’t have the queen [on the note].’ Well, the queen has died, and
that has nothing to do with the Belize dollar.
For citizens campaigning for Belize to remove King Charles as
head of state, the removal of the British monarch from the country’s money is
an important milestone in the journey towards becoming a republic.
The Belizean political scientist Dr Dylan Vernon, a former
ambassador to the European Union and former chair of the country’s political
reform commission, said the removal of the queen’s image was long delayed,
describing it as “a small but significant symbolic step in the unfinished
business of decolonisation”.
He said: “I have long argued that symbolic changes
– such as renaming streets, putting national heroes on currency and replacing
the king with a Belizean head of state – are needed but in no way enough.
Constitutional and political reforms are essential for more meaningful
decolonisation – for example, separation of legislative and executive powers,
and reforming the electoral system to include proportional representation.
“The hopeful angle is that when the new currency
notes have no impact on their lives, other than increasing national pride,
fewer Belizeans will fear the more substantive move of replacing the British
monarch with a Belizean head of state as part of wider constitutional
decolonisation and reform.”
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