to think old passports were black, not blue

[chomalungma]

I have my old passport from the late 80s.

It is definitely black.

Yet the Government keeps talking about the old blue passports

What colour do you think old passports were?

Mine is black and I’m not colour blind. It’s also hard-backed.

Either way the new one is nothing like the old one! Bloody pointless.

I renewed mine early last year so it’s burgundy with European Union on it for another 9 years for me. After that I will only use my Irish one.

If it's not hard backed with a hand written number then it's no good.

It's very, very dark blue - so dark it would be indistinguishable from black in many lights.

The new one won't be the same, because it will be the same size and type of cover as the current one, rather than being bigger and stiffer

Thats a good point. We aren't getting the old ones back. Just a colour that may or may not be the old colour.

StCatherine I loved your colour me beautiful comment that you can't wear it next to your face - so funny

Anyone remember British Visitor’s passports? They were simple bifold beige-ish cards, valid for 6 months as I remember. I did lots of travelling on those in the 70s.

Definitely black. I wonder if they had two producers, one extremely dark blue and one black.

Mine was black. I don't care if the colour was created with blue ink, and that the government officially states the colour was blue. If I had to give sworn testimony in court, with the passport in front of me for reference, I would have testified that it was black. There was not a shred of blueness to be seen when I looked at it.

Mine is black, definitely no hint of blue. I am not colour-blind.

This is mine and no matter what light I look at it in - it's black to my eye.
Irish passports are burgundy not green - I got one of those last year.

What I find most bizar is that there is no EU rule mandating red passports anyway - the UK could have had blue/black passports all along.

Absolutely. But many people believe the exact opposite and hence we are in the situation we are in.

What I find most bizar is that there is no EU rule mandating red passports anyway - the UK could have had blue/black passports all along

And it was. The plans to change the passport colour were under way before the Brexit vote. I would have happened either way.

Home Office has said the passports 'may not immediately look like the old passport people remember because these became darker as they got older.'

Mine must be faulty. It's still dark blue!

My husband's passport had me and three kids on it. Saved a lot of money.
The new blue ones are ridiculous.

My husband's passport had me and three kids on it. Saved a lot of money. and made it impossible for you to travel without him and easier for people to take children abroad when they shouldn't.

@Cheeserton What a load of rubbish. Tell me exactly where I said that means they are black?

My oldest passport is a very, very dark navy blue.

cochineal7 My understanding is that the EU rules included a choice between burgundy and navy for passport colours. But yes, we didn't have to have the burgundy at all.

My mama's passport from the 1960s, complete with obligatory bee hive hairstyle photo, was definitely black.

Mine is hardback and black. I can’t see any blue in the shade of black

Mine is hardbacked and also black.

Anyone remember British Visitor’s passports? They were simple bifold beige-ish cards, valid for 6 months as I remember. I did lots of travelling on those in the 70s.

I had one when I went on a school trip abroad.

My mum's, from the late 60s, was most definitely black. I have no problems with colour discrimination.

I think it's clear that the dye on old passports either matured into a near black with age, or is on the border that some eyes/brains see as black and others as blue.

I have mine right in front of me as I type and it's very dark blue without a doubt. Yet others are presumably looking at theirs at the same time and seeing something different. There is obviously no clear answer, but they were designed to be blue.

I remember the visitors passports