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Feb 1, 2020 • 5 min read
Next time you’re waiting in a queue at the airport where everyone has their passports out, take a look around and count the colours you can see. Here’s a unique secret of travel: you’ll only find four of them; black, blue, green, and red.
Indeed, there are different shades within each colour, from the light sea-blue of the island nations of Fiji and Tuvalu to the almost black of Croatia’s dark blue; however, every passport you spot will be one of the four primary colours.
Counting country by country, blue is the most popular colour, possibly because it seems the most official. Red is next, followed by green, and finally black. In case you were curious, there’s no European Union regulation that mandates member states to have identical colour passports.
Hang on, could the UK have had blue passports all along?
You might recall that one of the reasons some people supported Brexit was the desire for blue passports instead of the “red, European Union” ones. The old UK passports, the pre-computerized cardboard versions with handwritten names, were at times actually black, with the UK government querying individuals renewing passports about the colour of their old passport—blue, black, or red.
Notably, there’s no EU rule dictating the colour of member passports; however, for ease of use back in 1981 when it was the European Community, member governments agreed to include some common elements including the burgundy colour and the words “European Community,” facilitating freer movement.
Wait, no rules about what passports look like either?
Surprisingly, there are very few rules governing the form and shape that passports must take. The primary guidelines come from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a body of the United Nations. These standards are primarily aimed at ensuring that passports can be read by computers, whether using the old-school swiping method or the newer scanning technique. (ICAO also establishes standards for biometric, chip-enabled passports.)
The regulations can be found in the 86-page Doc 9303, titled “Machine Readable Travel Documents.” Interestingly, it only specifies six aspects concerning the physical document itself: deformation, toxicity, resistance to chemicals, temperature stability, humidity, and light.
In general, a passport should not deform in a passport reader that requires it to be flat, should be non-toxic, should resist chemicals, should function in extreme temperatures ranging from -10°C to +50°C (14°F to 122°F), should remain usable in humidity levels from 5% to 95%, and must resist deterioration from normal exposure to light.
It also “should not lose its reliability when stored at, or exposed to, relative air humidity ranging from 0% to 100%,” yet do not be tempted to drop yours in a hotel swimming pool—that’s advisable to avoid!
So, no rules on the text or anything else?
Contrary to what one might think, not as many rules exist as one might anticipate! While there are some suggestions about the photo page (officially called the Visual Inspection Zone), it primarily states that it should feature the Latin alphabet (A-Z) and Arabic numeric symbols (0-9), with some additional instructions regarding letters from other alphabets like Cyrillic and Arabic.
A recommended guideline pertains to the type size of the letters, suggesting that 15 characters per 25.4mm (one inch) is the minimum size for clarity and legibility for someone with normal eyesight.
Upper-case letters are recommended, although not mandated; moreover, special rules are specified for prefixes (such as de or da, le or la, von, and others).
Each piece of information must be clearly captioned, and if it’s not written in French, English, or Spanish, that information should be translated into one of those three languages, preferably in italics.
Even names can present a challenge: in certain cultures and countries, such as Indonesia, some individuals may only possess a single name. This is referred to as the “primary identifier,” along with what many consider to be “family names.”
Further detail includes the swipeable or scannable section at the bottom, strictly containing all-caps letters and numbers: thus, someone named D’Artagnan simplifies to DARTAGNAN.
Finally, there’s the “secondary identifier,” which is often viewed as the “given name,” though it should be noted that these naming conventions can vary across cultures.
For those possessing both a family name and given names, a double ≪ should appear between them. Hence, our musketeer friend would be represented as DARTAGNAN≪CHARLES.
How can I know if my passport is damaged or if my personal information is wrong?
Whenever you receive a new passport from the passport office, it’s prudent to ensure that everything is accurate. Verify both the captioned section with your name and personal details laid out clearly and check that it aligns with the machine-readable section at the bottom.
Maintain the safety of your passport; however, equally important is treating it with care. If you inadvertently break the chip inside, the fast-track machines may fail to function, and worse, signs of tampering could lead airlines to refuse travel. In many scenarios, they are required to do so.
Periodically check the photo page: this page typically gets scanned and, for frequent travelers, is the section most likely to fray at the edges. Should you find any issues, consult your local passport office, as you don’t want to arrive at the airport unable to fly!
