The inner section shows an effigy of King Albert II in profile facing to the left. The royal monogram (crowned A II) and the indication of the country (BE) on the right. Date below, surrounded by the mint director's privy mark (left in 2009, otherwise right) and mintmark (right in 2009, otherwise left). The outer ring of the coin depicts the twelve stars of the European flag.

Albert II (born 6 June 1934) reigned as King of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013. Albert II was the fourth monarch to abdicate in 2013, following Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa of Qatar. In doing so, he was also the second Belgian monarch to abdicate following his father, King Leopold III, who abdicated in 1951, albeit under very different circumstances.

Mintmark of the Royal Belgian Mint: Head of Archangel Michael (Saint-Patron of Brussels)
Director's privy marks:
• Scale (Romain Coenen, 1987-2009)
• Feather (Serge Lesens, 2010-2012)
• Cat (Bernard Gillard 2013-)

Engraver: Jan Alfons Keustermans

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 1 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “1” 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.”