In an examination of the main factors that have led to anti-Coptic discrimination in Egypt, this research starts by explaining the difference between Copts as a religious group represented by the Orthodox Church and Copts as a group in society and part of the national fabric of Egypt who enjoy unfettered political, social, and economic rights. It rests on the basis that Egyptian Copts – whatever their differences in social, political, and religious affiliation – cannot be seen as a single assimilated social and political bloc. This paper looks at a number of determinants that have helped to consolidate “Coptic identity” and deepen Copts’ feelings of difference, most importantly state policy. It also looks at the factors that make Copts themselves feel that they are different. The study concludes that many factors led to growing Coptic particularism when confronting state exclusion under the former and caused the Copts to explain this exclusion on religious grounds regime (even though this exclusion was not, in effect, based on religious grounds).