Depicts a portrait of Vasco da Gama 3/4 left, around, name and dates of his first trip from Lisboa to Calicut or Kozhikode, the city of spices, in Kerala, India.

Depicts a representation of the 3 boats of the first journey of Vasco da Gama to India, the largest San Gabriel, the San Rafael and the Berrio. Top left, the coat of arms of Portugal, surrounded by the country name above and the issue date below.

• São Gabriel, commanded by Vasco da Gama; a carrack of 178 tons, length 27 m, width 8.5 m, draft 2.3 m, sails of 372 m2
• São Rafael, commanded by his brother Paulo da Gama; had similar dimensions to the São Gabriel
• Berrio (nickname, officially called São Miguel), a caravel, slightly smaller than the former two, commanded by Nicolau Coelho

The coat of arms of Portugal is based on the coat of arms used by the Portuguese Kingdom since the Middle Ages. The coat of arms of Portugal is popularly referred as the Five Quinas or simply the Quinas (quinas being the five escutcheons of the Portuguese shield).