‘Turing rainbow’ pays fitting homage to codebreaking hero above Milton Keynes pub which bears his name

The rainbow’s arc sits perfectly behind Alan Turing’s head on the pub sign in Bletchley – almost as a tribute of the father of computer science and wartime code breaker based at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

Significantly it also symbolises the rainbow Pride flag.

A mathematician, Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, considered as a model of a general-purpose computer.

During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre.

Despite his acclaim, Turing led a troubled personal life as a gay man at a time when homosexuality was illegal, and was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts.

However, following a public campaign in 2009, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for "the appalling way Turing was treated", with the Queen granting a posthumous pardon in 2013.

Since then Turing has been celebrated as a wartime hero. Turing’s image appears on the current Bank of England £50 note, which was released on 23 June 2021, to coincide with his birthday. A 2019 BBC series, as voted by the audience, named him the greatest person of the 20th century.

A statue of Alan Turing is also located at Bletchley Park.

Out thanks to Tony for sending in the image

Tony Moon: MFS Reprographics Ltd

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