The centenary celebrated in 1988 was the four hundredth anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The image is taken from one side of a contemporary medal.
This is the side reproduced on the Royal Mint medal. It shows a melee of ships locked in battle in the channel. The translation of the Latin inscription is “He blew and they were scattered”. This refers to the severe storm, ascribed to divine intervention, that finally scattered the armada. To show that God was on the side of the English, the name of God is shown, in Hebrew, at the top of the medal.