British 50-pound note to bear face of gay WWII codebreaker

The rainbow flag flew proudly Thursday above the Bank of England in the heart of London’s financial district to commemorate World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, the new face of Britain’s 50-pound note.

Turing was selected as the new face of the 50-pound note in 2019 following a public nomination process that garnered around 250,000 votes, partly in recognition of the discrimination that he faced as a gay man.

The design of the bank note was unveiled before it is being formally issued to the public on June 23, Turing’s birthday.

Among his accomplishments, Turing is most famous for the pivotal role he played in breaking Germany’s Enigma code during World War II. The code had been believed to be unbreakable as the cipher changed continuously. Historians say the cracking of the code may have helped shorten the war by at least two years.

During the war, Turing worked at the secret Bletchley Park code-breaking center, where he helped crack Enigma by creating the “Turing bombe,” a forerunner of modern computers. He also developed the “Turing Test” to measure artificial intelligence.

After the war, he was prosecuted over his relationship with a man in Manchester and given a choice between imprisonment and probation with the condition of undergoing female hormone treatment.

His conviction led to the removal of his security clearance. He died at age 41 in 1954 after eating an apple laced with cyanide.

Turing received a posthumous apology from the British government in 2009 and a royal pardon in 2013.