Independence from Britain 1964

Part of the bronze statue created by Ganni Bonnici in 1989, symbolising independence. It shows a young woman representing Malta, carrying the Maltese flag. On the right side, the semicircular inscription “MALTA – Independence 1964”; along the lower rim, the year “2014”.

This 2-euro commemorative coin exists in two varieties. The 2-euro commemorative coins in the ST coin set were struck at the Dutch mint in Utrecht and therefore carry that mint's mark (MT-14 G2). The other coins carry no mintmark (MT-14 G1).

On 21 September 1964, Malta's status as a British crown colony, which the island state had held since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, came to an end. Independence was the result of decades of struggle: after the Second World War, during which Malta's strategic position in the Mediterranean brought it heavy bombardment and earned it the epithet "island of the George Cross", independence negotiations gained momentum. Prime Minister Giorgio Borg Olivier led the Maltese delegation that negotiated a constitutional treaty in London in 1964. Malta joined the Commonwealth as a sovereign state, initially retained the British Crown as head of state, and became a member of the United Nations. The new constitution guaranteed fundamental rights, parliamentary democracy and state neutrality - foundations that still apply today.

The constitutional significance of this step reaches beyond the date itself. Malta went through further stages of state development after 1964: the republic was proclaimed in 1974, the last British forces left the island in 1979, and in 2004 Malta became the first Mediterranean island nation to join the European Union. The Maltese commemorative coin of 2014, issued to mark the 50th anniversary of independence from Britain, is part of the series on Malta's constitutional history, through which the country keeps alive the formative milestones of its national identity. The independence of 1964 is regarded as the founding moment of modern Malta - a turning point that permanently redefined the island state's political standing in the Mediterranean.