My First Three Passports

Here are the first three US passports I had before the current e-Passport. I just want to show the evolution of the passport data page since 1991, when my first passport was issued. How I wish I could have applied for one of the commemorative green Benjamin Franklin passports that the Department of State issued in between 1992 and 1993 to celebrate 200 years of US Consular Affairs!

This first passport had a purple theme to it. It was very minimalist, which I like about it. The typeface used for the data is also reminiscent of those ancient computers that are the predecessors of the very powerful machines we have today. Unlike in passports today, the photo on the data page is the actual photo that I submitted to the passport agency, which was affixed and then "sealed on" with the laminate page. I had to remove my picture just for my protection, but if you saw the original, you would see how the eagle from the Great Seal of the United States is actually printed on the laminate that is applied onto the photo, which I guess was a measure taken to combat replacement of the picture. The USA design on the upper half of the picture is also printed onto the laminate.


This second passport is quite different from the first in that it is more colorful and has more activity. The theme is red and blue hexagons. The inside of the passport was also changed from the simple seal of the United States to a rather messy collage of state seals (you'll see what I mean in later posts). The security image printed on the laminate is no longer the seal of the United States, but three stars to the left of the photo, which you cannot see since I removed my photo. I do not understand this shift from the great seal to three stars that are on the photo itself since it is more obvious to see an alteration if the seal of the picture and the seal on the data page do not match if the design is on both the data page and the picture, and not just on the picture.

Notice that this passport was processed at the National Passport Center (I guess in Washington, DC?) and not in Los Angeles like my first one.



My third passport's design is very similar to that of the second one, but the typeface has changed to a more modern-looking one. Also, the picture is now printed directly onto the data page; in the past, they would attach the actual photo you submitted, and now they scan your picture and print it right onto the page. I guess this makes it almost virtually impossible to replace the image on the passport since it is printed onto the passport and no longer attached. Of course, there is no need for a laminate here.

Also, notice how the French translations of the months in the dates has been removed and that the consular message is now also written in Spanish, probably because of the increase in movement of Americans in Latin America or probably because now there are so many Spanish speakers in the American population that there is a necessity to include Spanish?

One last thing: this passport was processed at the New Orleans Passport Agency, which I think is quite neat since I lived in Los Angeles. I think it may have been because I applied for a passport at the Post Office and perhaps the post office either (1) sent all application from the post office where I applied to St. Louis or (2) my passport application was shuffled around and found its way to St. Louis.