Ever wondered why passports come only in four colours? Here's an answer

Passports (Flickr)

Passports across the world come in variations of four basic colours, which are blue, black, red, and green. It is usually assumed that there must be some rule dictating the choice of colours, but to think so would actually be a fallacy.

There are no official rules or regulations deciding the colour palette. In fact, all nations have a freehand in choosing whichever colour they want, as long as the material used is sturdy.

According to a report by Mental Floss, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) only recommends the preferred typeface, type size, and font. Rest, the respective countries need to ensure that the passport binding doesn’t bend or crease too much and is able to resist wear and tear due to exposure to chemicals and extreme heat or humidity, to some extent.

So, one of the reasons why all countries across the world have dark coloured passports is because it is easier to hide basic damages made to the passport when such palettes are chosen.

However, that is not the primary reason why all the nations use a variant of the four colours mentioned. These shades are chosen given their formal appeal. Since it is not only holiday goers who need passports and diplomats use it too, as do people who travel to other countries for work purpose, it makes sense to stick to colours that have a formal appeal.

That apart, a country’s choice of colour may even be dictated by the cultural and historical significance of a particular colour. For instance, the colour green has a religious significance in Islamic countries, whereas most countries belonging to the European Union prefer the colour Burgundy.

South Africa nations also have a green passport, which is referred to as the green mamba, but it remains unknown what exactly might have guided their choice. Meanwhile, the Americans decided to stick with blue given the colour’s association with royalty, although they have changed the colour of their passport a few times in the past.

Black, on the other hand, is considered a relatively unorthodox colour for passports and is used by very few countries such as Botswana and New Zealand.