Give us four guesses and we'll name the color of your passport
Monday, April 15, 2024
Make every day more interesting. Each day a surprising fact opens a world of fascinating information for you to explore. Did you know that….? 
| Original photo by Sergey Shik/ Shutterstock |
| Around the world, passports come in only four general colors. | Although we have virtually any color at our disposal when it comes to painting our homes, fans of offbeat hues like sarcoline or wenge might be disappointed to learn that passports come almost entirely in varieties of red, green, blue, and black. It's not like there are any color-coded rules from the International Civil Aviation Organization, which otherwise offers guidelines for machine-readable travel documents, so what's up with the universally restricted palette?
According to Passport Index co-founder Hrant Boghossian, there are a variety of cultural and symbolic influences behind a country's choice of passport color. Islamic states use green, for example, given the color's strong ties to the prophet Muhammad. Elsewhere, members of the European Union (and EU hopefuls such as Turkey) display unity via passports in the off-red color of burgundy. There are also practical reasons in play, including the relatively limited color choices available for cardstock used to make the booklets. And passports issued in dark blue (like the U.S.'s) or black are less likely to show obvious signs of wear.
Despite the general uniformity in this department, administrative powers around the world have found avenues for personalized expression. Newer passports of the United States, Canada, Norway, and China all feature designs that glow under ultraviolet light. And those of Finland and Slovenia offer a dash of fun with flipbook-style animations. So remember, don't judge a book by its cover, even when it comes to jet-setting documents.
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 | | King Charles of the United Kingdom does not require a passport for traveling abroad. | | |
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| King Charles of the United Kingdom does not require a passport for traveling abroad. |  |  |
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| A U.S. passport allows its bearer access to __ countries. |  |
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 | Numbers Don't Lie |
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 | | Countries that have a black passport | | 7 |
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| | | Passports issued by the U.S. State Department in 2022 | | 22 million |
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| | Pages in a passport formerly used by U.S. citizen Eric Oborski | | 331 |
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| | | Age, in years, at which a passport remains valid indefinitely in Spain | | 70 |
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 | The United Arab Emirates issues passports for falcons. |
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| No, there isn't an ethnic minority of falcons among the populace of this Middle Eastern country, but they are considered a status symbol, and feature prominently in popular exhibitions across the Arabian Peninsula. Because these birds can run upwards of $20,000 apiece, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 2002 introduced passports for falcons in the UAE in an attempt to cut down on the smuggling. Nowadays, owners need to shell out approximately $177 for a three-year passport and related service fees. While these documents lack a means of photo confirmation, border agents can simply check an ID number in the passport against one inscribed on the falcon's leg ring. In the meantime, these creatures are free to ride on certain airlines along with the rest of us. | | |
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posted by June Lesley at 5:24 AM
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