The foreground shows the globe, tilted to the right and bearing the inscription ‘WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME’, from which emerges an ear of wheat, an ear of maize and an ear of rice, the three grains representing the world's basic sources of nourishment.

To the right of the globe is the I superimposed on an R denoting ‘Repubblica Italiana’, below which there appears a smaller combination of the letters U and P, the initials of the engraver, Uliana Pernazza.

To the upper left of the globe there appears the mint mark ‘R’ and under the globe the year mark ‘2004’.

The 12 stars of the European Union are positioned around the outer circle.