# What color is your passport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553 "2019-07-24T16:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/1 "2019-07-24T16:57:21Z")
Poll coming. I included ‘other’ as an option, although I’ve never see any other colors besides blue, green, and red. Please don’t pick ‘other’ if you don’t have a passport. I’m more curious about the color distribution, I associate blue with the USA, red with the EU, and green with South Asia and the Middle East. I have no idea about central and South America as well as the rest of Asia or Oceania. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/2 "2019-07-24T17:14:02Z")
My current US passport is blue. But in the past, I’ve had a red US passport and a black US Passport. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/3 "2019-07-24T17:15:56Z")
I went other because I have three – the standard US version, the “charge card” US version for my wallet when I travel, and a deep-red Georgian one thanks to a branch of the family and I don’t want to talk about it. But it is always current and valid. Just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/4 "2019-07-24T18:00:49Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > My current US passport is blue. But in the past, I’ve had a red US passport and a black US Passport. Same here. The red was a “official” passport, meaning I was on government business, but in the private sector. The black was, of course, a diplomatic passport. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/5 "2019-07-24T18:49:21Z")
I’d say brown, although I might say a bit red-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/6 "2019-07-24T19:03:26Z")
I’ve heard that in place of the citizenship question, the Trump administration is inserting the OP’s question into the upcoming census. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/7 "2019-07-24T19:08:09Z")
There are only 4 different colors of passports Blue is considered the color for the “New World” Red for current or historical communist countries Green for primarily muslim countries Black is the rarist > **[Bright Side — Inspiration. Creativity. Wonder.](https://brightside.me/)** > > Our site is dedicated to creativity. We made Bright Side to help nurture the seeds of creativity found in all of us. We believe imagination should be at the heart of everything people do. Bright Side is the place to find the most inspiring... ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/8 "2019-07-24T19:58:31Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There are only 4 different colors of passports > > Blue is considered the color for the “New World” > Red for current or historical communist countries > Green for primarily muslim countries > Black is the rarist > > [There are Only Four Passport Colors in the World, and This is the Reason Why / Bright Side](https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/there-are-only-four-passport-colors-in-the-world-and-this-is-the-reason-why-315960/) “Communist countries use red” is not the same as “red is for communist countries”. Your source has this right, it’s your summary that’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/9 "2019-07-24T20:01:11Z")
I wish the poll allowed for multiple options. My United States passport is blue. My South African passport is green. “Other” doesn’t seem quite right for that. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/10 "2019-07-24T20:07:20Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I went other because I have three – the standard US version, the “charge card” US version for my wallet when I travel, and a deep-red Georgian one thanks to a branch of the family and I don’t want to talk about it. But it is always current and valid. Just in case. You need a passport to go to Atlanta now? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/11 "2019-07-24T20:11:54Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > You need a passport to go to Atlanta now? Hell, son, you need a passport to cross [The Perimeter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_285_(Georgia)). (My passport is blue, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/12 "2019-07-24T20:20:49Z")
> [@naita](#): > > “Communist countries use red” is not the same as “red is for communist countries”. Your source has this right, it’s your summary that’s wrong. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/13 "2019-07-24T21:33:14Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There are only 4 different colors of passports > > Blue is considered the color for the “New World” > Red for current or historical communist countries > Green for primarily muslim countries > Black is the rarist > > [There are Only Four Passport Colors in the World, and This is the Reason Why / Bright Side](https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/there-are-only-four-passport-colors-in-the-world-and-this-is-the-reason-why-315960/) Since I am sure you have researched this carefully, I have only one question: When did [Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_passport)go communist? Was it in the news? ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/14 "2019-07-24T21:35:01Z")
The passports of EU countries, like mine, are red (burgundy). ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/15 "2019-07-24T21:44:43Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Since I am sure you have researched this carefully, I have only one question: > > When did [Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_passport)go communist? Was it in the news? Or Singapore or Bahrain and a host of others. [This](https://www.passportindex.org/byColor.php)links to a rather nifty passport colour sire and[this](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/surprising-reasons-behind-the-colour-of-your-passport/) is a nice article on the same. From the article > [@](#): > > “Most Islamic states use green passports because of the importance of the colour in their religion,” Boghossian said. > > Green is believed to have been a favourite colour of the Prophet Muhammad, is “a symbol of nature and life”, and is seen on the national flags of Islamic countries like Afghanistan and Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/16 "2019-07-24T22:03:34Z")
Canada - blue. ---
**Author:** ![Smudge777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Smudge777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smudge777)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/17 "2019-07-24T23:51:10Z")
My Australian passport is black. I’m quite a fan. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/18 "2019-07-25T01:09:12Z")
Blue, but I have an old expired green one that shows me with hip, groovy 1970s hair. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/19 "2019-07-25T01:44:24Z")
A past partner of mine had a black passport book. He used to teach English to employees of a large Japanese corporation, and after filling up a regular US passport booklet and an attached extension with countless trips SFO-NRT, an agent gave him the black diplomatic version. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553/20 "2019-07-25T01:50:12Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There are only 4 different colors of passports > > Blue is considered the color for the “New World” > Red for current or historical communist countries > Green for primarily muslim countries > Black is the rarist > > [There are Only Four Passport Colors in the World, and This is the Reason Why / Bright Side](https://brightside.me/wonder-curiosities/there-are-only-four-passport-colors-in-the-world-and-this-is-the-reason-why-315960/) Red - well, claret - also for EU countries. The Irish passport was green until we adopted the common EU design in, I think, the 1980s, as were German (BRD) passports. German (DDR) passports were blue, not red. Polish passports, before the joined the EU, were blue. The Czechoslovak and, later, Czech and Slovak, passports were all dark green. (This whole “communist = red” principle doesn’t hold up very well.) The UK passport was a very dark blue, almost black. And a lot of countries have blue passports not because they are “new world” countries but because they are former British possessions whose governments initially issued blue “British Subject” passports, and simply saw no reason to change the colour when the “British Subject” bit was dropped. The US passport was red from 1926 to 1941, green from 1941 to 1976, blue from 1976 to 1993, green in 1993-94 and then blue again since 1994. (Prior to 1926 it didn’t have a coloured cover.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-your-passport/837553.md?page=2)