Why Are All Passports Looks Similar?

Apparently there was a passport design deal in October 1920

Baggage and travel documents inspection, Sydney Airport - Image Credit J Elizabeth Tobing

Passport as a device entrance to a country has been known since a long time ago. It is difficult for anyone not to prepare a passport as a person's identification when he or she is entering a desired destination country. Maybe you've experienced it at the airport or other entrance while in a tourist destination.

You've observed a passport, maybe your friend or anyone beside you when queuing to enter a country. You can observe well, it turns out that despite the different countries, all passports are designed to be similar to each other in accordance with the existing provisions.

It seems to be known, like an article quote in detikTravel, today, if there is any agreement about the design of the passport was also known first appeared in France in October 1920. No doubt there is a record of this on a digital note on the UN official website in Geneva.

It was written on the official website of the United Nations that there was indeed talk of the design of the passport and all its technical details by the League of Nations, the union body of nations at that time, in the framework of the Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets.

Then came the agreement of the members of the League of Nations to make a joint identity named passport to 42 member countries at the time. This can be regarded as a good move from the League of Nations as a form of security control across borders.

Specifically in accordance with the conditions of mainland Europe at that time taken as an impact after World War I.

"The absence of a standardized passport is a serious obstacle to restarting normal relations and the recovery of the world economy."

Now you can see the passport development in accordance with the previous agreement of size 15.5 cm x 10.5 cm, there are 32 pages, where the first four pages describes the passport owner's self-image and personal details.

There are still another 28 pages dedicated to the visa. Associated with visas, German citizens initially became the country with the strongest passport holders with the most visa-free amount dropping to second place, and Singapore became the strongest country as visa-free passport holders to 197 countries in the world.

You can observe carefully when the front page of an ideal passport must also have the symbol and the name of a country, in accordance with the League of Nations agreement.

Recent developments have given technical regulatory authority to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), regardless of your observations at airports in the world, of course, the design of existing passports remains the same and has not changed for nearly 100 years.

But. You look more technologically, after seeing the passport shape of today. Present innovations in the form of hologram, watermarks, even electronic chips for e-Passport.

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Source: J Randy Prakoso - detikTravel, UN-ICAO
Image: J Elizabeth Tobing