Protected Flowers In Israel

PROTECTED FLOWERS IN ISRAEL
78th ISRAEL ANNIVERSARY COIN
Legal Tender issued by the Bank of Israel

The Land of Israel is blessed with a rich diversity of wild flora that decorates its landscape with a colorful display throughout the seasons. Among the thousands of plant species are unique and rare flowers, some of which have been designated protected flowers to ensure their preservation for generations to come.

Protection of Israel’s wildflowers began in the mid-20th century, on the understanding that uncontrolled uprooting of flowers was liable to lead to their extinction. In the 1950s and 1960s, nature lovers, educators, and environmental organizations, and specifically, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, led an extensive nationwide campaign to promote wildflower protection. This resulted in legislation and a declaration concerning scores of protected plant species, which were forbidden to be picked or uprooted. Since then, wildflower protection has become ingrained in the conscience of the Israeli public, a symbol of love of the Land, of environmental responsibility, and preservation of Israel’s unique treasures of nature.

Among Israel’s protected flowers are cyclamens, which sprout between rocks, irises which grow on hills, in the desert and coastal plain, narcissus on slopes, valleys, and humid habitats, and bright red poppy anemones in fields. Blooming in winter and early spring, poppy Anemones create gorgeous red carpets on the landscape and have become the iconic flower of southern Israel. A variety of colored poppy anemone’s bloom in the north in shades of white, purple, pink, and red.

The 78th Israel Anniversary Coin, dedicated to the nation’s protected wildflowers, is a tribute
to their beauty and delicacy, and the importance of protecting them as part of Israel’s
landscape and natural heritage for future generations.

Coin Description:
Reverse: Protected flowers in Israel - Poppy Anemones, Iris, Narcissus, and Cyclamen – and above them, a bee, the pollinator of the flowers. Around the border is the inscription “Protected Flowers in Israel”, upper left in Hebrew, upper right in English, and lower right in Arabic.
Obverse: Israel State Emblem, “Israel” in Hebrew, English and Arabic, inscription “Independence Day 2026” in Hebrew and English, face value, and mint mark. Each coin bears one of the protected flowers of Israel – on the NIS 10 coin, a cyclamen, on the NIS 2 coin, a Poppy Anemone, and on the NIS 1 coin, an Iris.

Design: Igal Gabay
Minting: The Holy Land Mint

*Available: May 2026
*Photographs are for illustration purposes only.