In partnership with
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND
The Herald, in proud partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland is inviting the country’s photographers to enter their most accomplished work with this competition that celebrates the launch of the stunning new £50 banknote design.
The note, which features the image of historic Scottish educationalist Flora Stevenson, is the bank’s first £50 note to feature a woman on its face. The £50 – which has been designed in consultation with the public – is the fourth in the bank’s ‘Fabric of Nature’ series, and includes illustrations of the Scottish osprey on its reverse and will join Royal Bank’s £5, £10 and £20 when it enters circulation on August 18.
Designed in partnership with leading Scottish arts’ organisations and designers including Graven Images, Nile, Stucco, Timrous Beasties, O’Street and the Glasgow School of Art, the £50 is made from De La Rue’s Safeguard® polymer material and will also contain a variety of new security features, makingit difficult to counterfeit but easy to authenticate.
Flora, who was born in Glasgow was a British social reformer with a specialinterest in education for poor or neglected children, and in education for girls. She was one of the first women in the United Kingdom to be elected to a school board. The primary school, named after her, opened in 1899, the year of her 60th birthday. She passed away in 1905.
In designing the new notes, Royal Bank of Scotland launched the People’s Money programme and engaged with thousands of people across Scotland through workshops, online communities and polling surveys. As a result, ‘Fabric of Nature’ was chosen as the theme. The choice of Flora Stevenson for the £50 note was taken by Royal Bank’s Scotland Regional Board.
Commenting, Royal Bank of Scotland’s Scotland Regional board chair Malcolm
Buchanan, said: “At Royal Bank of Scotland, we feel that a banknote’s value is more than just the figure printed across its front - it is our symbol which lives in people’s pockets and touches everyday lives.
“Flora Stevenson’s legacy touches so many aspects of Scottish life that we, as
a nation, are justifiably proud; education, dedication and creating opportunities for all.”
“Choosing the design of the £50 note was an important decision for Royal Bank and that is why we wanted the public and our communities to help us decide how this note should look and feel and who should appear on its face.
“Flora’s impact on education, directly and indirectly, has led to opportunities for
many generations. It feels right to celebrate her impact in this way.” Today and beyond we celebrate the women who have inspired us in our lives that is why the theme of the competition this year is ‘Women of Note’. We invite you to submit your single best portrait image of a woman or women who have inspired you.
Whether you use a camera phone or an SLR get snapping and send your photo to: royalbanknote@heraldandtimes.co.uk
The closing date for entries is September 14 at midnight. Good luck!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here