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votes
You can vote on the design of the next Euro banknotes!
The European Central Bank is giving people the chance to vote on the design of future banknotes.
You can find more info and an overview of the designs on this page.
And you can vote directly on the survey here.
I'm quite touched that they picked birds for half of the designs. One design even has the migratory path, footprints and sonogram for each species, which I think is pretty cool. Not trying to sway anyone to vote for a particular design, just happy birds are getting some *more recognition :)
They generally look great! Good to move on from imaginary bridges.
They're not purely imaginary, as a number of bridges in the Dutch town of Spijkenisse have been modelled after them 😃
France did this too, they started building the imaginary bridges. I recall they got reprimanded for doing this, though I'm not certain on that.
Im confused. Why did they put pretend bridges on their money? Why get mad when someone makes that bridge? Were they afraid of showing bridge favoritism?!
Sort of, yes. The idea was to keep the currency neutral and show no national favouritism. The EU is antithetical to nationalism, creating something that favours a few countries just creates division. The neutrality in the currency has a purpose. To then deny that purpose by building the bridges after the fact is politically sensitive.
It's also why I'd rather have the birds. Because.. Who will claim Marie Curie? France or Poland? Poland doesn't even use Euros.
Either way, this entire voting is a little silly to me. Having an A or B choice isn't much of a choice.
Wouldn't that be a benefit? Promoting supra-nationalism with figures that are both more than one member country where possible. But I agree birds > celebrities
Yes and I'd agree with that approach! But like @MrNoPro said: There just aren't enough banknotes. Specifically Marie Curie though, since she's part of one of the redesigns, I'm just scratching my head at who it's for.
Personally, I'm at the point I think we can collectively celebrate these people as Europeans rather than specific nationalities, but we're not at the point most people in EU member states feel more European than their own nationality. For that reason I alone I think we need to go with the birds before shoehorning in a collective identity on the currency.. before we're ready to accept that. Not to mention plenty of member states do not use the Euro anyway.
Yes, they realized that representing 21 eurozone countries on just 7 banknotes would be impossible, so they decided to simultaneously represent all and none with the imaginary bridges.
hahaha, that's hilarious.
And if anyone is curious about the different species:
€5 - Wallcreeper
€10 - Common kingfisher
€20 - European bee-eater
€50 - White stork
€100 - Pied avocet
€200 - Northern Gannet
I was curious why they selected these specific birds. While many have argued that the group of people featured in the "European culture" set of notes is elitist, or favours some aspects of Europe more than others, I actually feel the same about these birds.
Some of these birds only appear in very limited areas in Europe, and there are areas of Europe where I believe none of these birds are ever seen in the wild. So, why not feature something like robins, sparrows, siskins, goldfinches, ravens and other common birds that are more widely present in Europe? Why the white stork and not a crane for a truly European migratory bird? Why no swans, which are important in so many European mythological traditions?
This bothered me, so I tried to find some answers. Fortunately, the Report by the Motifs Advisory Group tells us this about the selection process:
While my personal list of European birds would still be very different, I can certainly accept their selection criteria. And if they have done their homework properly based on those criteria, then I can also accept the results.
The report also tells us about design ideas that have since been rejected. In the Rivers and birds section, a table under "Nature as culture" presents an idea that I'm a little disappointed wasn't actually implemented. There probably is a little too much going on here for a set of bank notes, but still, this could have been gorgeous:
Representation of a spring and a Wallcreeper in a style inspired by ancient art.
Inspired by ancient pottery vessels imprinted with a pattern of spirals representing waves, like those found throughout pre-classical antiquity.
Representation of a Kingfisher and mountain stream as imagined in classical art.
Inspired by classical fountains and (humorous) waterspouts, such as those depicted in mosaics from Pompeii and surviving spouts in classical cities.
A representation of a Bee-eater in a confined river valley as imagined through medieval art and printing.
Inspired by medieval manuscripts and their playful and fantastical images of birds, alongside examples from the printing press, creating an interesting interplay between the two media.
Representation of a White Stork and a series of bends in a river (a meander) as imagined or depicted in the style of 18th century scientific topography.
Inspired by scientific taxonomy and naturalistic observations of birds.
Representation of a river mouth and an Avocet sweeping over the surface of a mud flat as imagined in the style of Romanticism.
Inspired by representations of a harbour, steamboats, riverscapes and the human activities that go on in such places.
Representation of an Osprey and a seacoast as imagined through contemporary/futuristic style.
Waves as metaphors for the digital and quantum universes inspired by postmodern art, visually linking back to the spiral patterns of antiquity.
Thank you for researching the background details on this, very interesting!
You know what, you're right, it should have been the golden eagle. But we could go even further. I love birds so I'll be happy if a bird design wins, but it would have been even cooler if they'd done different animal classes per note. Something like:
€5 - Insect
€10 - Amphibian
€20 - Reptile
€50 - Fish
€100 - Bird
€200 - Mammal
That would be amazing!! The ECB should have hired you for this job.
I would bet on cod. Would settle for bonito too because it's pretty, but cod has done a lot historically for many European countries.
They look like Pokemon cards. I like it!
My favorite is the Design F, although I understand its a bit "out there" so it probably won't be a fan favorite.
Close second is H.
H and B for me!
I don't think the vertical designs can possibly be popular. That's not the position most people's bills are when they're taken from their wallets, so it's actively causing friction.
I don't remember exactly which designs matched which letter but I really liked artistically some of the designs I rejected as banknotes when answering the survey.
I can say I do like the idea of using the birds or scenes with people, public squares, parks, etc. I disliked most of the buildings and the idea of using historical figures (I respect them, but so unoriginal!) But practical considerations are also important. Legibility, very distinctive color schemes (as we've had in past banknotes) and harmonious layouts.
Swiss franks are vertical and I think it does make sense. If you count them or hold them in your hand, the vertical one is more natural.
I do also hope the birds win.
Canadian bills are moving towards a vertical design. So far, it's just the $10 bill, but next year the $20 bill will also be vertical, and sometime after that the $5. I don't know why we change them one at a time.
I don't know how much the orientation matters in day to day use - people mostly aren't taking bills out of their wallets and admiring the designs.
One thing present on the Canadian bills that isn't in these Euro mockups is just the name of the person/building depicted. I don't know who all these people are, and while I could look them up, a name would give a much better starting point.
I was surprised I could identify all but 1. Those are Maria Callas (singer), Beethoven (composer), Marie Curie (scientist), Cervantes (author), Leonardo da Vinci (renaissance man). Only the last I don't know.
The last one is Bertha von Suttner. I had to look this up. She was the second female Nobel laureate (after Marie Curie in 1903), the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first Austrian laureate.
I have a good feeling about design H! I like that they also incorporated different European landscapes in the background around the theme of water. Especially the falling snow on the €5 note, since wallcreepers live in high altitude places. A sweet little detail.
Design G looks straight out of a video game in my opinion. Not necessarily a bad thing, though. Very modern.
My favorite is Design I. I like the vertical note with the birds, plus the subtle additions like the space-related inventions at the top of the note.
Though, as an American, I do not get a vote. I wish we did something similar here every once in a while, although the American bill feels very traditional.
You do get a vote! The survey is not restricted to Europeans!
Although to be completely transparent, they are also running the survey through a proper polling agency and I expect they'll give those results a lot more weight.
Maybe u/Bauke can turn this into one of the next Tildes surveys so everyone can participate. Or maybe we make our own Tildes currency!
I think there’s some really cool designs in there. Depending on whether we’ll have the birds or the people, I’ll probably hang one king fisher bill on my wall or one of da Vinci.
Who decided the motif for half of them should be birds and buildings? Birds and glass walls are natural enemies!
I think I lean towards the people motif, with proposal E being my preference. But if it must be birds, then J for sure.
It's reminiscent of the New Zealand flag vote, the public only really got two choices, they were all so similar.
A. Birds / buildings
B. Person / People
I kinda dislike all of these? I really don't think they should put people on money. It feels very problematic both in terms of representation and it just makes me feel a bit weird (although, if I was forced to pick from these Design C and Design E are both very strong).
And birds seems a bit too specific like as if the ornithologists have taken over the European Commission.
Design D back side with the hands stuff going on is actually really fascinating. Maybe a bit too science-y but it is a pretty cool idea that I haven't seen elsewhere. Abstract sure, but less abstract than putting a pyramid with an eye in the middle.
I like D, F, G, and I.
I thought the stylized versions of the portraits looked cleaner, more modern than the other versions of people. Like A's photograph of Maria Callas just doesn't look right.
Then for the birbs on D and I, I like the vertical notes. On I, I like how the sun/moon and birds look. Idk, can't explain it.
I don't know why, but I'm getting some flashbacks to the design of the last iteration of Dutch guilders.
I'm loving the designs, though, especially the vertical ones! They look very distinctive.
Maybe a hot take but while the fictional bridges weren't the most visually punchy, they were all neutral and could be a common cultural element in any European country.
I am very strongly against depicting any real-life personality on the notes, no matter how significant they were to the continent and it's history, because the European Union isn't just 5 or 6 countries and cannot possibly be represented by such a small number of personalities.
Love the designs themselves in a vacuum, but I will be voting strongly against all the notes with faces on them. Sadly the o the only other alternative seems to be European birds, which I think is an odd choice for those who don't want faces, but at least those share a wider geographical area and are thus a more common sight for the average European.
Overall, not too happy with these options.
I really like I, both for the consistent empty space in front of the wings of each bird and because they went beyond the very first image of each bird they could find online. It felt like some of them were cribbing from each other's homework on the birds.
I think the bills from design E, particularly the back, are pretty strong