Why does the current British passports have all these birds…the kingfisher, the red grouse…etc.?
The bio-data page is printed with a finely-detailed background including a drawing of a red grouse (a native British bird), and the entire page is protected from modification by a laminate which incorporates a holographic image of the kingfisher; visa pages are numbered and printed with detailed backgrounds including drawings of other birds: a merlin, curlew, avocet, and red kite. The older British passports had flowers on the backgrounds of each visa page. These flowers represented each country in the United Kingdom; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I’m guessing each bird also represents each country in the United Kingdom.
