90 Years of the National Lottery

The National Lottery's logo — Lady Fortuna with a cornucopia and four-leaf clovers. Along the left edge, the occasion 'loterie nationale loterij', with the country code 'BE' and the year '2025' below. The mintmarks of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt and the current Belgian mint master Giovanni Van de Velde, together with the initials 'IB' of designer Iris Bruijns, complete the design.

The Belgian National Lottery is among the oldest state lotteries in Europe. It was founded in 1934 by royal decree, initially with the aim of securing state revenue while channeling proceeds toward social purposes. From the very beginning, Fortuna, the Roman goddess of chance and luck, was the lottery's defining symbol — the depiction of the lady with the cornucopia became a fixed emblem and has accompanied the Belgian lottery ever since. Over the decades, the National Lottery developed into Belgium's central, state-controlled gaming authority, operating under the bilingual name Loterie Nationale – Nationale Loterij to serve both the French- and Dutch-speaking populations of the country. It is organized as a public institution and is overseen by the Ministry of the Economy.

Today, the Nationale Loterij is one of the few lottery operators worldwide to have remained entirely state-owned, never having undergone privatization. A significant portion of its revenue funds Belgian sport, culture, and nonprofit projects — a model that has remained true to its founding purpose. In 2025, Belgium marks the 90th anniversary of this institution with the issue of a 2-euro commemorative coin, recalling the long history of one of the country's best-known national institutions.