This is a first since the euro was put into circulation in 2002. The European Central Bank (ECB) is launching a complete overhaul of the iconography of bank notes. A survey was put online on Friday July 24 to allow Europeans to participate in the choice by voting for their favorite graphics.
The ten sets of tickets put to the vote were selected through a competition organized throughout the European Union. From more than 1,200 applications, the ECB chose 25 graphic designers and invited them to create posts on two themes: “European culture” and “rivers and birds”.
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An independent jury, made up of 21 professionals (graphic designers, neuroscientists, historians, etc.), each appointed by the central bank of a euro zone country, then chose the ten models presented to the public.
Each series rated on a scale of 1 to 5
The ECB survey, anonymous and open until September 21, allows you to give your opinion on the selected graphics. Respondents can rate each set of €5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and €200 notes on a scale of 1 to 5, from “I love” to “I hate”. They can then justify their choice according to several criteria, for example: “The different cuts of this graphic go well together”, “the graphic expresses the feeling of being European” or even “I can personally identify with this graphic”.
Among the series of banknotes offered, some represent species of birds such as the kingfisher, the stork and the gannet, and others represent major historical figures from different European states, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, or Maria Callas. On the back are European buildings such as the Parliament, the ECB, the Court of Justice of the EU, or scenes from daily life.
Expected result “towards the end of the year”
In parallel with this consultation, “a separate survey containing the same questions will be carried out (…) by an independent research firm with a representative sample of inhabitants of the euro zone”, specifies the ECB. The final decision will be made “towards the end of the year”, after combining all the results and the opinion of the independent jury.
The selected tickets will be put into circulation “in the following years”. Current denominations will retain their value and continue to circulate in parallel. With this change in graphics, however, a page is turning for one of the great symbols of the EU. By giving Europeans the opportunity to vote for denominations representing historical figures or landscapes, the ECB is returning to the traditional iconography of banknotes.
A very different positioning from that which led to the putting into circulation of its first banknotes, in 2002. At the time, “euro banknotes are illustrated by portals, windows and bridges, all fictitious, while traditionally the iconography of banknotes is based more on the highlighting of historical, popular or legendary characters, and culturally significant monuments and landscapes”, explains the Encyclopedia of Digital History of Europe (Ehne). This “disruptive” choice was then chosen to “erase any element that could have a national character, even minimal”.
With the creation of the new banknotes, the denominations representing imaginary bridges, symbolizing the link between European peoples but also between the continent and the rest of the world, will gradually disappear. But it will still be possible to admire them in Spijkenisse, in the Netherlands.
Fun fact.
The bridges in this small town in The Netherlands were built to match the initially fictional ones represented on the euro banknotes.
They are called the Eurobridges Spijkenisse.
[📹 abd.edilbi]pic.twitter.com/HMcHKrzeBh
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 11, 2024
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This city in the suburbs of Rotterdam actually built, in the early 2010s, the fictitious bridges represented on the tickets to cross its canals.
