Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees: Full List
Anniversary names from one year to a millennium for exams: silver, golden, diamond and platinum jubilees, their Hindi equivalents and the centenary series.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 3 min read

A jubilee is the celebration of a completed span of years, and each span has a traditional name: twenty-five years is a silver jubilee, fifty a golden jubilee. The names come from the gifts once given on wedding anniversaries, and they were carried over to the anniversaries of institutions, reigns, states and nations. Examiners like the chapter because the answer is a single word and the whole scheme can be tested from any direction: the name for a number of years, the number of years for a name, or the Hindi equivalent of either.
The standard table of anniversary names
| Years completed | Name of the anniversary | Name used in Hindi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paper anniversary | - |
| 5 | Wood anniversary | - |
| 10 | Tin anniversary | - |
| 15 | Crystal anniversary | - |
| 20 | China or porcelain anniversary | - |
| 25 | Silver jubilee | Rajat Jayanti |
| 30 | Pearl jubilee | - |
| 35 | Coral jubilee | - |
| 40 | Ruby jubilee | - |
| 45 | Sapphire jubilee | - |
| 50 | Golden jubilee | Swarna Jayanti |
| 55 | Emerald jubilee | - |
| 60 | Diamond jubilee | Hirak Jayanti |
| 65 | Blue sapphire jubilee | - |
| 70 | Platinum jubilee | - |
| 75 | Platinum jubilee (Indian usage) | Amrit Mahotsav, when used for seventy-five years |
| 100 | Centenary | Shatabdi |
The four that are actually asked
Of the whole table, four names carry almost every question, and a candidate who is sure of these four will rarely lose a mark.
- Silver jubilee is twenty-five years. In Hindi it is the Rajat Jayanti, rajat being the word for silver.
- Golden jubilee is fifty years, the Swarna Jayanti. India kept the golden jubilee of its independence in 1997.
- Diamond jubilee is sixty years in the usage now followed in India, the Hirak Jayanti.
- Platinum jubilee is seventy-five years in Indian official usage; the seventy-fifth year of independence was marked from 2021 as the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Where the conventions differ
Two of the larger numbers are not fixed in the same way everywhere, and it is worth knowing why, because a question may be framed from either convention.
- The diamond jubilee was once used for seventy-five years, and older Indian institutions still describe their seventy-fifth year that way. The sixty-year reading is the one that has become standard, mainly because a sixty-year reign or term is a natural milestone and because sixty years completes a full cycle in the traditional Indian calendar.
- The platinum jubilee is used for seventy-five years in India, but in British royal usage it marked seventy years, as in the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, which followed her diamond jubilee of sixty years in 2012.
- In an examination, read the options before answering: if both sixty and seventy-five appear against diamond, the intended answer is almost always sixty, and seventy-five is kept for platinum.
The words for the larger anniversaries
- A centenary, or centennial, is one hundred years; in Hindi it is the Shatabdi, a word familiar from the name of the train.
- A sesquicentennial is one hundred and fifty years, the prefix sesqui meaning one and a half.
- A bicentenary is two hundred years and a tercentenary is three hundred years.
- A quincentenary is five hundred years and a millennium is one thousand years.
Why the names were chosen
The scheme grew out of the custom of giving a gift of a particular material on each wedding anniversary, the material becoming more precious as the years increased: paper for the first year, tin for the tenth, silver for the twenty-fifth, gold for the fiftieth and diamond for the longest spans. Institutions borrowed the language because it made a milestone easy to announce, and governments followed. A university announcing its Rajat Jayanti is completing twenty-five years; a public sector undertaking holding a Swarna Jayanti has completed fifty; a regiment marking a Hirak Jayanti has completed sixty. Once the four main names and their Hindi equivalents are fixed in memory, the rest of the table can be recalled by remembering only that the materials rise in value with the years, and the larger Latin words, centenary, bicentenary and millennium, follow their ordinary number prefixes.
Exam Point of View
Questions take three shapes. The first gives a number of years and asks for the name, or gives a name and asks for the number, and the four tested most are silver, golden, diamond and platinum. The second asks for the Hindi equivalent, where Rajat Jayanti, Swarna Jayanti and Hirak Jayanti must be matched to twenty-five, fifty and sixty. The third works through an example, usually an anniversary of independence in 1947 or of the Constitution of 1950, and expects the candidate to add the span to the starting year. The traps are the two conventions at sixty and seventy-five, the confusion of crystal with china in the early part of the table, and reading sesquicentennial as anything other than one and a half centuries.
Important Facts
| Silver jubilee | 25 years; Rajat Jayanti |
|---|---|
| Golden jubilee | 50 years; Swarna Jayanti |
| Diamond jubilee | 60 years in Indian usage; Hirak Jayanti |
| Platinum jubilee | 75 years in Indian usage; 70 years in British royal usage |
| Tin anniversary | 10 years |
| Crystal anniversary | 15 years |
| China or porcelain anniversary | 20 years |
| Pearl, coral, ruby, sapphire | 30, 35, 40 and 45 years |
| Centenary | 100 years; Shatabdi |
| Sesquicentennial | 150 years |
| Millennium | 1,000 years |
Practice MCQs on this topic
The completion of twenty-five years is celebrated as which anniversary?
- A.Golden jubilee
- B.Silver jubilee
- C.Diamond jubilee
- D.Platinum jubilee
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Silver jubilee
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Silver jubilee. Twenty-five completed years are marked as a silver jubilee, called the Rajat Jayanti in Hindi, rajat being the word for silver, and the name comes from the old custom of giving silver on the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Option A is wrong because the golden jubilee, or Swarna Jayanti, marks fifty years, twice as long; India kept the golden jubilee of its independence in 1997. Option C is wrong because the diamond jubilee, the Hirak Jayanti, marks sixty years in the usage now standard in India. Option D is wrong because the platinum jubilee marks seventy-five years in Indian official usage. The four names in ascending order, silver at twenty-five, golden at fifty, diamond at sixty and platinum at seventy-five, cover almost every question set from this chapter.
The golden jubilee of an institution marks the completion of how many years?
- A.25 years
- B.40 years
- C.50 years
- D.60 years
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 50 years
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 50 years. The golden jubilee marks fifty completed years and is called the Swarna Jayanti in Hindi, the name taken from the gift of gold traditionally made on a fiftieth wedding anniversary. Option A is wrong because twenty-five years is the silver jubilee, or Rajat Jayanti, which is exactly half the span. Option B is wrong because forty years is the ruby jubilee, one of the intermediate names that appears in the full table but is rarely set on its own. Option D is wrong because sixty years is the diamond jubilee, the Hirak Jayanti, and it is the option most often chosen by a candidate who remembers that gold and diamond are both precious but cannot place the numbers. The simplest check is that the two best known names, silver and golden, stand at twenty-five and fifty, a gap of twenty-five years.
In the usage now standard in India, the diamond jubilee marks the completion of how many years?
- A.50 years
- B.60 years
- C.70 years
- D.100 years
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 60 years
Explanation
The correct answer is B, 60 years. The diamond jubilee, the Hirak Jayanti, marks sixty completed years in the usage now standard in India, and the figure is natural because sixty years completes a full cycle in the traditional Indian calendar. Option A is wrong because fifty years is the golden jubilee. Option C is wrong because seventy years was the span marked by the platinum jubilee in British royal usage, as with Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, whose diamond jubilee of sixty years had fallen in 2012. Option D is wrong because one hundred years is the centenary, called the Shatabdi. It is worth knowing that the diamond jubilee was once used for seventy-five years and that some older institutions still describe their seventy-fifth year that way, but when both sixty and seventy-five appear in the options the intended answer is sixty.
The seventy-fifth anniversary of India's independence was observed from 2021 under which name?
- A.Swarna Jayanti
- B.Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
- C.Hirak Jayanti
- D.Rajat Jayanti
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The seventy-fifth year of independence was observed from 2021 as the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, and in the scheme of anniversary names seventy-five completed years are a platinum jubilee in Indian official usage. Option A is wrong because the Swarna Jayanti is the golden jubilee of fifty years, which in the case of independence fell in 1997. Option C is wrong because the Hirak Jayanti is the diamond jubilee of sixty years, which for independence fell in 2007. Option D is wrong because the Rajat Jayanti is the silver jubilee of twenty-five years, which fell in 1972. Arranging the four milestones of independence in this way, 1972, 1997, 2007 and 2021, makes the whole scheme easy to recall from a single chain.
A period of one hundred and fifty years is called by which name?
- A.Centenary
- B.Sesquicentennial
- C.Bicentenary
- D.Tercentenary
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Sesquicentennial
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Sesquicentennial. One hundred and fifty years is a sesquicentennial, the prefix sesqui meaning one and a half, so the word reads as one and a half centuries. Option A is wrong because a centenary, also called a centennial and known in Hindi as the Shatabdi, marks one hundred years. Option C is wrong because a bicentenary marks two hundred years, the prefix bi standing for two. Option D is wrong because a tercentenary marks three hundred years. The larger words all follow their ordinary number prefixes, so once sesqui is understood as one and a half the series falls into place: centenary at one hundred, sesquicentennial at one hundred and fifty, bicentenary at two hundred, tercentenary at three hundred and a millennium at one thousand.
The completion of ten years is traditionally marked as which anniversary?
- A.Crystal
- B.Tin
- C.Pearl
- D.Coral
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Tin
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Tin. In the traditional table of anniversary names, the tenth year is the tin anniversary, the materials rising in value as the years increase from paper in the first year to silver, gold and diamond in the longer spans. Option A is wrong because crystal belongs to the fifteenth year, five years later. Option C is wrong because pearl belongs to the thirtieth year, which comes after the silver jubilee of twenty-five. Option D is wrong because coral belongs to the thirty-fifth year. The order of the first few is the part worth memorising as a block: paper at one, wood at five, tin at ten, crystal at fifteen and china or porcelain at twenty, after which the well known jubilees begin with silver at twenty-five.
In Hindi, the Swarna Jayanti refers to the anniversary of how many years?
- A.25 years
- B.50 years
- C.60 years
- D.75 years
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 50 years
Explanation
The correct answer is B, 50 years. Swarna is the word for gold, so the Swarna Jayanti is the golden jubilee, the completion of fifty years. Option A is wrong because twenty-five years is the Rajat Jayanti, the silver jubilee, rajat being the word for silver, and candidates who have learnt the English names but not the Hindi ones interchange these two most often. Option C is wrong because sixty years is the Hirak Jayanti, the diamond jubilee, hirak meaning diamond. Option D is wrong because seventy-five years has no separate traditional word of this kind and is usually written as the platinum jubilee. Learning the three Hindi names together, rajat for silver at twenty-five, swarna for gold at fifty and hirak for diamond at sixty, settles every question of this form.
The ruby jubilee marks the completion of how many years?
- A.30 years
- B.35 years
- C.40 years
- D.45 years
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 40 years
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 40 years. The fortieth year is the ruby jubilee, one of the intermediate names in the table that lies between the silver jubilee of twenty-five and the golden jubilee of fifty. Option A is wrong because the thirtieth year is the pearl jubilee. Option B is wrong because the thirty-fifth year is the coral jubilee. Option D is wrong because the forty-fifth year is the sapphire jubilee. The intermediate names run in steps of five from twenty-five onwards and follow a simple order of precious things: silver at twenty-five, pearl at thirty, coral at thirty-five, ruby at forty, sapphire at forty-five and gold at fifty, and holding that short run in memory answers any question drawn from the middle of the table.
India celebrated the golden jubilee of its independence in which year?
- A.1972
- B.1997
- C.2007
- D.2021
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 1997
Explanation
The correct answer is B, 1997. India became independent in 1947, so the completion of fifty years, the golden jubilee or Swarna Jayanti, fell in 1997. Option A is wrong because 1972 marks twenty-five years of independence, the silver jubilee or Rajat Jayanti. Option C is wrong because 2007 marks sixty years, the diamond jubilee or Hirak Jayanti in the usage standard in India. Option D is wrong because 2021 marks the beginning of the seventy-fifth year, observed as the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, which corresponds to the platinum jubilee in Indian usage. Working from 1947 and adding the span named in the question is the quickest way to answer any item of this kind, and the same method works for the anniversaries of the Constitution, which came into force in 1950.
A millennium is a period of how many years?
- A.100 years
- B.500 years
- C.1,000 years
- D.10,000 years
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 1,000 years
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 1,000 years. A millennium is one thousand years, from the Latin mille for a thousand and annus for a year, and in Hindi it is called the sahasrabdi. Option A is wrong because one hundred years is a centenary or centennial, known as the Shatabdi. Option B is wrong because five hundred years is a quincentenary, the prefix quin standing for five, so it is five centuries rather than ten. Option D is wrong because ten thousand years has no name in this series at all and is placed in the options only to test whether the candidate is reading the figures. The whole series rests on counting centuries: one for a centenary, one and a half for a sesquicentennial, two for a bicentenary, three for a tercentenary, five for a quincentenary and ten for a millennium.
Which anniversary name is traditionally associated with the completion of twenty years?
- A.Crystal
- B.China or porcelain
- C.Pearl
- D.Tin
Show answer
Correct answer: B. China or porcelain
Explanation
The correct answer is B, China or porcelain. The twentieth year is the china anniversary, also called the porcelain anniversary, and it is the last of the early names before the silver jubilee of twenty-five. Option A is wrong because crystal belongs to the fifteenth year, and crystal and china are the two most easily interchanged because both are fragile materials from the same part of the table. Option C is wrong because pearl belongs to the thirtieth year, which lies on the other side of the silver jubilee. Option D is wrong because tin belongs to the tenth year. Fixing the five-year steps in order, paper, wood, tin, crystal and china, carries the candidate up to the silver jubilee, after which the better known jubilee names take over.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many years does a silver jubilee mark?
Twenty-five completed years. In Hindi it is the Rajat Jayanti, rajat being the word for silver, and the name comes from the custom of giving silver on a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
Is the diamond jubilee sixty years or seventy-five years?
In the usage now standard in India it is sixty years, called the Hirak Jayanti. The older usage applied it to seventy-five years, and some long-established institutions still describe their seventy-fifth year that way, but when both figures appear in the options of a question the intended answer is sixty.
What were the jubilee years of India's independence?
India became independent in 1947, so the silver jubilee fell in 1972, the golden jubilee in 1997, the diamond jubilee in 2007 and the seventy-fifth year began in 2021, observed as the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
What is a sesquicentennial?
A period of one hundred and fifty years. The prefix sesqui means one and a half, so the word reads as one and a half centuries. It sits between the centenary at a hundred years and the bicentenary at two hundred.
What are the Hindi names of the main jubilees?
Rajat Jayanti for the silver jubilee of twenty-five years, Swarna Jayanti for the golden jubilee of fifty years, Hirak Jayanti for the diamond jubilee of sixty years and Shatabdi for the centenary of a hundred years.
Sources
- Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: About the Initiative — Ministry of Culture, Government of India
- Manual of Official Language Terminology — Department of Official Language, Government of India





