The central image shows the skyline of Riga and the historic centre of the city that has been included in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Depicted are, from left to right: St. John's Church, St. James's Cathedral, Three-Stars-Tower of Riga Castle, St. Peter's Church and Riga Cathedral.

At the top of the image, the inscription 'EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE' and at the bottom the name of the celebrated city and the year of issuance 'RĪGA — 2014', and underneath the indication of the issuing country 'LV'. The coin's outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Engraver: Henrihs Vorkals

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

Dievs, svētī Latviju! (God, Bless Latvia!) is the national anthem of Latvia. The words and music were written by Kārlis Baumanis (1834–1904).