Editing Passport (section)

===Cover designs===
{{Main|Andean passport|CARICOM passport|Central America-4 passport|ECOWAS passport|Passports of the European Union}}
[[File:Passport design world map.png|alt=|thumb|Colours across the world for modern passport booklet covers]]

Passport booklets from almost all countries around the world display the [[national coat of arms]] of the issuing country on the front cover. The United Nations keeps a record of national coats of arms, but displaying a coat of arms is not an internationally recognised requirement for a passport.

There are several groups of countries that have, by mutual agreement, adopted common designs for their passports:

* The European Union. The design and layout of passports of the member states of the European Union are a result of consensus and recommendation, rather than of directive.<ref>Resolutions of 23 June 1981, 30 June 1982, 14 July 1986 and 10 July 1995 concerning the introduction of a passport of uniform pattern, OJEC, 19 September 1981, C 241, p. 1; 16 July 1982, C 179, p. 1; 14 July 1986, C 185, p. 1; 4 August 1995, C 200, p. 1.</ref>  Passports are issued by member states and may consist of either the usual passport booklet or the newer passport card format. The covers of ordinary passport booklets are burgundy-red (except for Croatia which has a blue cover), with "European Union" written in the national language or languages. Below that are the name of the country, the national coat of arms, the word or words for "passport", and, at the bottom, the symbol for a biometric passport. The data page can be at the front or at the back of a passport booklet and there are significant design differences throughout to indicate which member state is the issuer. Member states that participate in the [[Schengen Agreement]] have agreed that their e-passports should contain fingerprint information in the chip.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02004R2252-20090626&qid=1518713474119&from=EN |title= Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004 on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States| date=29 December 2004 |journal=Official Journal of the European Union |access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref>
* In 2006, the members of the [[Central America-4 Border Control Agreement|CA-4]] Treaty ([[Guatemala]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], and [[Nicaragua]]) adopted a common-design passport, called the [[Central America-4 passport|Central American passport]], following a design already in use by Nicaragua and El Salvador since the mid-1990s. It features a navy-blue cover with the words "América Central" and a map of Central America, and with the territory of the issuing country highlighted in gold (in place of the individual nations' coats of arms). At the bottom of the cover are the name of the issuing country and the passport type.
* The members of the [[Andean Community of Nations]] ([[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]]) began to issue commonly designed passports in 2005. Specifications for the common passport format were outlined in an Andean Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in 2002.<ref>[http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/junac/decisiones/dec525e.asp Andean Community / Decision 525: Minimum specific technical characteristics of Andean Passport] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922192319/http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/junac/decisiones/dec525e.asp |date=2016-09-22 }}.</ref>  Previously issued national passports will be valid until their expiry dates. Andean passports are bordeaux (burgundy-red), with words in gold. Centred above the national seal of the issuing country is the name of the regional body in Spanish (''Comunidad Andina''). Below the seal is the official name of the member country. At the bottom of the cover is the Spanish word "pasaporte" along with the English "passport". Venezuela had issued Andean passports, but has subsequently left the Andean Community, so they will no longer issue Andean passports.
* The [[Union of South American Nations]] had signaled an intention to establish a common passport design, but it is doubtful that this will happen since the group effectively broke up in 2019.
* Twelve member states of the [[Caribbean Community]] (CARICOM) began issuing passports with a [[CARICOM passport|common design]] since early 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=More Member States using the new CARICOM passport|url=http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres22_07.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608034921/http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres22_07.jsp|archive-date=8 June 2011|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/caricomnew/lesserKnownFacts.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019112259/http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/caricomnew/lesserKnownFacts.html|url-status=dead|title=Lesser Known Facts about the CSM|archivedate=October 19, 2010}}</ref> It features the CARICOM symbol along with the national coat of arms and name of the member state, rendered in a CARICOM official language (English, [[French language|French]], Dutch). The member states which use the common design are [[Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Barbados]], [[Belize]], [[Dominica]], [[Grenada]], [[Guyana]], [[Jamaica]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]], [[Saint Lucia]], [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]], [[Suriname]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]].  There was a movement by the [[Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States]] (OECS) to issue a common designed passport, but the implementation of the CARICOM passport made that redundant, and it was abandoned.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 February 2021 |title=Benefits of CARICOM passport |website=Best Citizenships |url=https://best-citizenships.com/2021/02/08/benefits-of-caricom-passport/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |language=en-US}}</ref>