<div><p>Have you ever noticed that passports are always issued in blue, green, blue, black or red? </p><p>If you've wondered why the government doesn't issue the travel document in pink, yellow or purple then read on. </p><p>According to passport expert Hrant Boghossian, the color of the document is largely dependant on practicality as well as a country's motives. </p><p>He tells Business Insider UK that "passport production is a highly controlled process, and only few companies around the world are doing it. He adds that a third party supplier is responsible for the cardstock covers so it "only comes in certain colour variations to meet the required standards." </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_1050px.jpg 1050w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_1150px.jpg 1150w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/passport-colours-xlarge-1_GH_content_1250px.jpg 1250w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>telegraph.co.uk</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>In addition, every country has it's own process for choosing a color to represent their citizens' main travel document. </p><p>For example, countries in the European Union issue burgundy passports while North America, South America and Oceania tend to have blue passports to symbolize the "new world."</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Countries that opt for green are generally those in the Middle East as the color is significant in their religion and is a "symbol of nature and life."</p><p>Hip nations like Switzerland offer bright red passports to stand out from the typical burgundy. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/190px-Swiss_Pass_2010.jpg" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>There it is ladies and gents, next time you're queuing up at the airport you'll know exactly why your passport might look like everyone else's.</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p></div>