Blue passports: What’s the history of the navy passport and why could they be making a comeback?

Time to change? An old British passport and a burgundy UK passport in the European Union
PA

British citizens could once again be given blue passports in the wake of Brexit.

Within days of Prime Minister Theresa May triggering Article 50 last week, a £500 million tender was sent out by the Home Office for firms to redesign and produce a new passport.

The current contract expires in 2019, the year the UK is set to leave the EU.

The British passport is routinely redesigned every five years and Eurosceptics view the new contract as a way to ditch the EU burgundy cover in favour of a return to the colour of the past.

What is the history of the blue passport?

Passports are derived from four main colours: red, green, blue or black, and governments can choose the colour and design they’d like their national travel document to have.

The first blue British passports were printed in 1920.

Six years later the British design was described by the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations, as “perfection itself” - and for many the true colour of the British passport will always be dark blue.

For how long did we have them?

The burgundy design was chosen 60 years later in 1981 – eight years after the UK joined the EU.

It was introduced in Britain in 1988, with "European Community" emblazoned on the front - later replaced with "European Union".

In September 1988, the Glasgow Passport Office issued the first UK passports in burgundy format.

The burgundy passport design
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

This was extended to other offices by the spring of 1991.

Who is leading calls for their return?

A number of Brexiters and Tory ministers have called for the return of the blue passport.

Following news of the possible colour change, Pro-Brexit Conservative MP Michael Fabricant said: "You keep your passport until it expires.

"If you renew after Brexit, I am hoping we'll have new navy blue passports."

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell told the Sunday Express: "The old dark blue design was a distinct, clear and bold statement of what it means to be British, which is just what our citizens need as they travel abroad after Brexit."

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has also frequently called for the blue passports to make a come back.

In the last days of campaigning to leave the EU, he even used his passport as a prop while arguing for Brexit.

Why are people exercised over the subject?

For many, reverting back to the old passport is a question of patriotism.

The red design is said to have been only begrudgingly chosen in 1981, with many Brits said to be unhappy at the presumed French influence in the decision.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell has previously said the burgundy passport was a "source of national humiliation".

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “A country’s passport is a symbol of its sovereignty.

“As we get our sovereignty back, I’m looking forward to getting my British passport back too.”

And Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan, a key Brexit figure, previously told the Sun: “Bringing back the blue passport would symbolise that we are once again British subjects and not EU citizens.”

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