Do You Know the Four Primary Colors of Passports Around the World?

Next time you’re traveling, especially if you’re standing in line or on a long layover, remember this post and look around the airport.

There are four primary colors of passport around the world. Each country has different passports for its citizens such as diplomats have a different passport color in the U.S. than the blue covered U.S. passport most travelers receive.

Red Passports
Passports with a red cover are chosen by countries with a previous or current communist system of government. Citizens of China, Slovenia, Serbia, Russia, Latvia, Poland, and Romania are among the countries that carry this passport. Just to make it a little confusing, countries that are members of the EU use burgundy passports. Turkey, Macedonia, and Albania changed the covers of their passports to show their interest in joining the EU. The Andean Community of Nations made up of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia also use Burgundy passports.

Blue Passports
This is the color of the U.S. passport since 1976 and represents the
15 Caribbean countries have blue cover passports. In South America, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay use blue passports to show a connection to the Mercosur trade union.

Green Passports
Is the color of most Muslim countries such as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Green was the most favored color by the Prophet Muhammad and is a symbol of both nature and life. Certain African nations use passports in shades of green to show membership in ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States).

Black Passports
The most rarely issued passports are those with black covers. Certain African countries such as Botswana, Zambia, Burundi, Gabon, Angola, Chad, Congo, and Malawi utilize black covers. New Zealanders also have black cover passports.

If you need to renew your passport, the Real ID Act will be here in January 2018! Talk to us about renewing your U.S. passport today.