The Swiss escutcheon, on a crown of wheat ears, with the inscription "HELVETIA" (Switzerland) above and date below.

The white cross has been used as the field sign (attached to the clothing of combattants and to the cantonal war flags in the form of strips of linen) of the Old Swiss Confederacy since its formation in the late 13th or early 14th century. Its symbolism was described by the Swiss Federal Council in 1889 as representing "at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". The federal coat of arms was defined in 1815 for the Restored Confederacy as the white-on-red Swiss cross in a heraldic shield. The white cross is known as the Swiss cross. Its arms are equilateral, and their ratio of length to width is 7:6.

The name Helvetica is a derivation of the ethnonym Helvetii, the name of the Gaulish tribe inhabiting the Swiss Plateau prior to the Roman conquest.

Numeral within wreath. Mintmark below bow.