At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything special or unusual about the Canadian passport. It has the usual photo identification page followed by emblems of the maple leaf – the icon of Canada – and culturally significant murals on every page that follows.
But, there’s something rather fantastical about this passport – it just can’t be seen under normal light. While a lot of passports for other countries have security features that are revealed when held under ultraviolet light, the Canadian passport has spectacular, colourful displays hidden within its pages.
The softly shaded murals come alive, bursting off the page in spectacularly bright colours. See a comparison of the pictures under normal light followed by UV light below.
People on social media were clearly impressed, with one saying, “It’s like a party on every page.”
One traveller said the colourful murals saved him from being detained while abroad.
“This saved me from being detained once. I had spilt water on my passport, so the pages were all wrinkly and some of my stamps were messed up,” they said. “As I was passing through customs to leave Ghana, they assumed my passport was fake and took me aside to be questioned. Luckily one of the customs officers knew to check it with a blacklight. He said to me, ‘You are lucky you are from a rich country!’ and sent me on my way … ”
Another passport design element that has wowed travellers in recent years is the Finnish passport, with its flipbook-style animation of a moose walking. See the effect below.
Which do you like more, the bright murals or the walking moose?