Macquarie Mint under investigation for use of Rising Sun badge on commemorative coin; ceases promotional material using word 'Anzac'

Updated

A commercial mint in Victoria is being investigated for its use of a protected defence emblem on its 2015 Gallipoli landing centenary coin and the word 'Anzac' in advertising material.

The Macquarie Mint mailed promotional material to thousands of Australian households in the lead up to Anzac Day, hoping to sell its $10 silver commemorative coin.

The front of the coin is printed with the image of an armed soldier underneath a Rising Sun emblem, a symbol protected by the Department of Defence.

The Rising Sun badge was worn by soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars and has become an integral part of the digger tradition.

The department has told the ABC the badge cannot be used in full or in part without express permission from the Government, and it has no record of the Macquarie Mint asking permission to use the symbol.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs has also pulled up the mint over its use of the world 'Anzac' in promotional material for the coin, which the mint has agreed to stop distributing. The word Anzac does not appear on the coin.

It comes just a week after supermarket chain Woolworths sparked social media backlash for using the word Anzac and the phrase 'Fresh In Our Memories' over the images of former soldiers.

"As a protected mark, the Rising Sun badge may not to be renamed, cropped, manipulated or edited in any way, used in part or overlayed with another image," a defence spokesman said.

"It also cannot be used without the written permission of the Department of Defence.

"Defence is looking into this matter and as such, cannot provide any further information at this time."

"Macquarie Mint does not have permission to use the word 'Anzac' for this purpose, and was contacted on 21 April 2015 regarding its use in the letter," a Department of Veterans' Affairs spokesman said.

The department said it wrote to the Macquarie Mint earlier this week asking it to immediately stop using the term.

It said companies are liable for up to $51,000 for using the word without permission.

In a written statement, a Macquarie Mint spokesman said they would cease any future distribution of marketing material featuring the coin image and the single piece of marketing material featuring the word Anzac.

"I might add that Macquarie Mint has donated a share of proceeds from sales of our First World War Silver Collection to Legacy Australia over the past four years.

"This has helped contribute over $100,000 to help care for families of incapacitated and fallen veterans."

Macquarie Mint has advertised its 2015 souvenir as the official tender of Kiribati, an island in the central Pacific.

It says only 150,000 coins would be minted.

Each comes with a certificate of authenticity confirming its specifications.

Topics: world-war-1, community-and-society, history, defence-and-national-security, defence-forces, federal-government, vic, australia

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