Why do passports and banknotes have to be like this – clumsy montages of national symbols in an 18th-century style?
Perhaps it’s because they’re all mostly designed and printed by the same firm, DeLaRue of Basingstoke, purveyor of high-security printed matter since 1821. They do exceedingly fine ridge intaglio printing, exquisite watermarks and multicoloured UV stitching – plus many more secret techniques we’ll never be allowed to know about (that’s why they won the £400m 10-year contract for UK biometric passports) – but they could do with hiring some better graphic designers.