Commemorative Passports: Rare Collectibles in Passport History
Update April 2026: US will issue commemorative passports with Trump’s picture for America’s 250th birthday!
➡️ Read my interview with Huffpost on “Why The New Trump Passport Design Is So Unusual” .
Have you ever come across commemorative passports? They’re not as common as commemorative coins or banknotes, but they do exist! Allow me to shed some light on this rarity. While they’re not widespread, I’m aware of a few examples which I’ll outline here. If you know of any others, I’d love to hear about them.
Australia: Bicentennial 1788-1988
I just added this document thanks to a website reader who sent me pictures of this passport. I didn’t know Australia made a commemorative passport. Thanks so much, Stuart – I learned from you.
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. Specifically, ‘H’ and ‘J’ series passports were issued in 1988 bearing the Bicentennial logo. The logo appeared as a design element within the standard-issue booklet, distinguishing these passports from pre- and post-1988 series. The official Bicentennial logo — designed by Michael Tracey — depicts a map of Australia formed by intersecting diagonal lines.
Relatively short issuance window: only the H and J series carry the logo, making them identifiable and dateable to 1988. Since 1988, over one million Australian passports have been issued annually — so surviving used examples from this series are not rare in absolute terms, but unused/mint condition examples with the bicentennial logo intact are more desirable.
Bottom line for collectors: The H and J series are the only Australian passports to carry the Bicentennial logo, making them a neatly bounded collecting category. Their value is primarily historical rather than monetary, though condition and whether stamps are present affects desirability.
USA: American Revolution Bicentennial 1776–1976
The 1976 Bicentennial passport is smaller. Prettier. Easier to keep clean. Its cover, a new, more durable leather-grained vinyl material in dark blue, corresponding to the field of the US flag, is replacing the lighter “horizon blue” of passports issued from 1961 through 1975, and the dull green of the ones before that.
The foil stamping of the lettering and Great Seal is done in silver-colored aluminum rather than gold. On the front cover is the inscription, “Bicentennial 1776-1976”; on the back is the Bicentennial seal. Commemorative Passports History
There’s a new-look inside the Bicentennial passport, too. Its interior pages feature a Liberty Bell pattern printed with a specially formulated red and blue ink. A grid pattern is printed on the visa pages to encourage the orderly stamping of entry and exit stamps.
And for the first time, conforming to international practice, the passport is bilingual. The message from the Secretary of State, the captions of the identification data, and the titles of the amendments and endorsements page appear in both English and French.
The passport fee in 1976 was $10 plus an execution fee of $3. The passport had only twenty pages and was valid for five years. The Bicentennial was issued only during the calendar year 1976. Commemorative Passports History
USA: Benjamin Franklin – 200 years US Consular Service
In 1993, the blue US passport became green again to honor Benjamin Franklin and the 200th anniversary of the US Consular Service.
From April 1993 to March 1994, this special passport was issued. According to the statistics of the foreign office, 4.2 million copies of this type have been given.
250th Anniversary US Passport
In April 2026, the U.S. State Department announced a limited release of commemorative U.S. passports to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary (the semiquincentennial) in July 2026. The interior cover features a portrait of President Donald Trump overlaid on the text of the Declaration of Independence, with his signature in gold. The standard cover wording is reversed, with “United States of America” in bold gold print at the top and “Passport” at the bottom.
The back cover includes a small gold laminate American flag with the number “250” encircled by 13 stars. This is the first time a living U.S. president has been featured in the official travel document. The release is limited to approximately 25,000 to 30,000 booklets. There is no additional fee to obtain this commemorative version compared to a standard passport. It will be the default document for in-person applicants at the Washington office, though standard passports remain available through online applications or other regional offices.
My interview with huffpost from april 29, 2026
Andorra: 700 years Andorra 1278–1978
There is not much information on this Andorra passport. It had 32 pages, and only the cover mentioned the anniversary. The travel document was issued only in 1978. The population of Andorra in 1980 was only 35.460; hence such a commemorative type must be scarce. Commemorative Passports History
Andorra is the rarest of all three special issues, followed by the Bicentennial and the Franklin. So far, I only know that these two countries have issued a special passport edition. If you know of others, please let me know!
Finland 2017–100 Years Independence
The back cover features an embossed 100th-anniversary logo, as does UV text on the ID card. From my understanding, the current passports from 2022 have the anniversary logo too.
Poland 2018–100 Years Independence
Like the Finnish passport, the Polish anniversary features are also in the current 2022 passport types.
A colleague suggested once to the Swiss government to issue a special passport edition on 700 years Ruetlischwur – he never got a reply. It takes too much effort and might be mainly a security printing issue that states do not make such commemorative passports anymore. Such special editions make splendid collectibles.
Tom Topol | Passport Historian & Author
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