We’ve all stood in long queues, dealt with unscrupulous ‘touts’ just to get that coveted blue booklet; but do we actually know why Indian passports are blue in colour? Or for that matter, how is the colour of a country’s passport decided?
Countries have the liberty to choose the colours of their passports, something which, the “broad spectrum” of passport designs lays testimony to.
However, there is a general trend that is observed when it comes to countries and passport colours.
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Usually Communist nations or nations that were formerly under the Communist regime, have red coloured passports.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_264747164.jpg)
Islamic nations have passports that are green in colour.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_796218388.jpg)
Regular EU passports are burgundy red.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_632749869.jpg)
And then there’s this awesome looking Swiss passport, that stands out!
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![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_537763364.jpg)
The rest of the nations mostly use shades of blue for their passports.
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Several countries have adopted common designs through mutual consent.
The members of the CA-4 Treaty (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua) have a common design passport, known as the Central American passport, which is navy blue in colour.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_445489026.jpg)
The Andean Community of Nations: Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru began issuing common designed passports in burgundy-red.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_905757619.png)
The members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) recently started issuing passports bearing a common design (CC), that are dark blue in colour.
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![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_838192593.jpg)
In addition, one nation may offer differently coloured passports to officials & diplomats. This is to help identify the bearer.
Usually the three different categories of passports in India are: Diplomatic Passport – maroon, Official Passport – white, Regular Passport – blue.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/56b1bb97fb77854cb6d9df3b_151224008.jpg)
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