From December, all new UK passports will carry King Charles’s coat of arms on the cover, the Home Office has announced. The interior pages will showcase natural landmarks from across the four nations, including Ben Nevis in Scotland, the Lake District in England, Three Cliffs Bay in Wales, and Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway.
This is the first full redesign of British passports in five years, following the 2020 change from burgundy to dark blue after the UK left the European Union. Passports currently featuring Queen Elizabeth II’s coat of arms will remain valid until they expire.
Although issued in the King’s name since 2023, with pages referring to “His Majesty,” the cover has continued to display the late Queen’s emblem. The King’s coat of arms includes the rounded Tudor crown he selected as his royal cypher upon ascending the throne in 2022.
The transition has been gradual, with King Charles’s images appearing on stamps, coins, and banknotes. The government has sought to avoid abrupt changes by using existing stocks first. By tradition, the King does not hold a passport, as it is a document issued in his own name.
The Home Office also confirmed the new passports will incorporate advanced security features, making them “harder to forge or tamper with.” Migration and Citizenship Minister Mike Tapp described the redesign as “a new era in the history of the British passport.”
He added, “It also demonstrates our commitment to outstanding public service - celebrating British heritage while ensuring our passports remain among the most secure and trusted in the world for years to come.”
The government has urged the public to check the expiry of their passports and renew them well before any planned travel. Modern UK passports, featuring a photograph and signature, have been in use since 1915. Security watermarks were introduced in 1972, and machine-readable passports followed in 1988.