Design of euro banknotes
There are seven different euro banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro. They were designed by Robert Kalina of the Austrian National Bank. The designs depict windows, archways and bridges from seven important architectural periods inEurope’s cultural history: classical antiquity, roman, gothic, renaissance, baroque and rococo, iron and glass construction, and contemporary 20th century architecture.
Symbolism
The windows and archways on the obverse (‘head’ side) of every note symbolise the spirit of openness and co-operation in. The twelve stars of the European Union refer to the dynamism and harmony which reign in present-day Europe. The bridges on the reverse (‘tail’ side) symbolise the communication among the people ofEuropeand betweenEuropeand the rest of the world. A map ofEuropeis depicted including overseas territories theAzores, theCanary IslandsandMadeira. To the right of the word EURO/EYRO, overseas territories are represented which fall outside the map ofEurope:French Guiana,Guadeloupe,Martiniqueand Réunion.
Signature
On its obverse (front side), beside the EU flag, each note bears the signature of the President of the European Central Bank (ECB). Most notes circulated since 1 January 2002 bear the signature of Wim Duisenberg, the ECB’s first president.
On 1 November 2003, Mr Duisenberg was succeeded by Jean-Claude Trichet. Since then, newly produced and issued notes have borne the signature of Mr Trichet. The date on the notes, 2000, refers to the copyright year and therefore has not changed.
Other common features
- the name of the currency in both the Latin (EURO) and the Greek (EYPO) alphabets
- the flag of the European Union on the obverse of each note
- the abbreviation of the words European Central Bank in five different variants, BCE, ECB, EZB, EKT and EKP representing eleven EU languages
- the © symbol referring to the copyright, owned by the ECB
- the serial number (see file downloads below)
More details on each banknote are provided on the website of the ECB.
