Celebrating the UK’s wildlife on our banknotes

We have chosen the puffin, owl, bumblebee and hedgehog to appear on our next series.
Thank you for taking part in our consultations. Our process for selecting imagery for the next series of banknotes has now concluded and we are unable to consider any alternative suggestions.

Overview

The Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and European hedgehog will feature as the central images on our next series of banknotes. 

In 2025, we announced we were issuing a new series of banknotes which would include updated security features to ensure you can continue to use cash with confidence. With each redesign, we have to change the imagery so that you can easily tell the difference between the old and new banknotes. We asked the public which theme they would like us to use on the next series of our banknotes.

Following that consultation, we announced that we will use nature, with a particular focus on wildlife, as the theme for our next series of banknote designs. Nature was the most popular theme, and we also judged that animal images would be effective for developing banknotes with security features that are easy for the public to recognise.

We worked with a panel of UK wildlife experts to develop a shortlist of 18 native animals across three categories: mammals; birds; and amphibians, insects and fish. We asked the UK public which of the shortlisted animals they would like to see on our next series in a public consultation. Nearly 500,000 people responded to our consultation.

We used the feedback from the consultation to decide on the four animals, one for each banknote denomination. The chosen animals meet our objectives for a distinctive set of banknotes that can support counterfeit resilience and are representative of the UK.

The four animals

The barn owl (Tyto alba), buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) were the most popular in their respective categories.

We chose the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) because it was the most popular marine animal and will add variety to the series, making the denominations easier to distinguish. Featuring a puffin also allows us to celebrate the UK’s coastline.

Total number of nominations by animals from 2026 consultation

 
Bar chart showing total number of nominations by animal from the Bank's 2026 consultation

Next steps

It will be a number of years before we launch the next series of banknotes. It is a detailed, multi-year process to design, test and print the notes, ensuring they are high-quality, resilient, accessible and incorporate the latest anti-counterfeiting technology.

The decision on which animal will feature on which denomination (£5, £10, £20 and £50) will be made in due course and announced closer to the launch of the banknotes.

While the selected animals will feature as the central imagery for the next series, the banknotes will also feature other elements from nature to complete the designs, potentially including other shortlisted animals.

The next series will still include a portrait of the monarch. Representation of the Home Nations will also be an important feature in the design.

More information

  • As the UK’s central bank, one of our most important jobs is to make sure that you have a choice in how you can safely pay for things and that you can do so safely. 

    While the use of cash for transactions has declined over the past 20 years, it remains the preferred payment method for around one in seven people and is used by many more. The value of cash in circulation has also continued to increase, reaching £91.5 billion at the end of February 2026.

    It is important that the public can continue to use cash with confidence. To ensure our banknotes remain secure, we periodically issue a new series which incorporates the latest security features to help prevent counterfeits. When we issue a new series, we also usually update the imagery on banknotes to help the public easily distinguish them.

    When redesigning banknotes, we also want to make sure they are accessible. The new series will continue to incorporate features to help blind and partially sighted people identify their value.

    The sizes of the banknotes and the overall colour scheme will not change. We will continue to include a portrait of the monarch. 

  • We have been issuing notes since soon after the Bank was founded in 1694. Since then, we have updated them periodically to incorporate the newest security and accessibility features. With each redesign, we have changed the visual imagery so that you can easily tell the difference between the old and new banknotes. 

    Until the 1920s, all the Bank’s banknotes had a single-sided, calligraphic design. Multi-coloured, graphic designs were introduced in the late 1920s. Since 1970, we have showcased historical figures who have helped shape national thought, innovation, leadership and values on our banknotes. This includes our current series, which features portraits of Winston Churchill (£5), Jane Austen (£10), JMW Turner (£20) and Alan Turing (£50). While there are many other inspirational historical figures from a range of backgrounds who could feature on our banknotes, there are many other ways to celebrate the UK.

    In 2025, we asked the public which theme they would like us to use on the next series of our banknotes.

    The consultation on themes received over 44,000 responses. This included online survey responses, post, emails and designs submitted by schools and the public. 

    Nature was the most popular theme with 60% of respondents selecting it as one of their preferred themes. Architecture and Landmarks was the second most popular at 56%. This was followed by Notable Historical Figures at 38%, Arts, Culture and Sport at 30%, Innovation at 23% and Noteworthy Milestones at 19%. 

    After the consultation, the Bank commissioned focus groups with members of the public across the UK, where nature was viewed most positively as a potential theme for banknotes.

    This reflects how important wildlife is to the public. Animals are vital to our landscapes, ecosystems and everyday lives. They have long inspired iconic works of art, music and literature, and we are excited to showcase them on our next series of banknotes.

    Source: Bank of England July 2025 consultation on themes for the next series of banknotes.

    In line with our criteria that the chosen theme should support banknote authentication, we also judged that animal images would be effective for developing banknotes with security features that are easy for the public to recognise. The chosen animal imagery will be combined with security technology to help prevent counterfeiting. Animals are especially well suited for this, giving us many options to use recognisable forms and movements within the security features.

    We will also showcase other elements from nature (eg plants and landscapes) as secondary parts of the design, such as the background. 

  • We worked with a panel of wildlife experts to develop a shortlist of animals for you to choose from.

    When deciding which animals to shortlist, the panel and the Bank considered a range of factors. The considerations included that the animals should be able to support banknote authentication, help the public clearly identify each denomination and are able to symbolise the UK. Therefore, the shortlist only includes animals native to the UK that are easily recognisable and can easily be integrated with the security features which will be included on the banknote.

    The shortlist includes a variety of animals from a range of environments across the UK. This is important to help ensure that all four banknotes are distinct from and also able to complement each other as a series.

    The shortlist

    Mammals Birds Amphibians, insects & fish
    • bottlenose dolphin
    • brown hare
    • European hedgehog 
    • grey seal 
    • pine marten 
    • red fox 
    • Atlantic puffin 
    • barn owl 
    • common kingfisher 
    • Eurasian curlew 
    • great spotted woodpecker  
    • white-tailed eagle
    • Atlantic salmon
    • basking shark
    • buff-tailed bumblebee
    • common frog
    • emperor dragonfly
    • marsh fritillary butterfly

  • Katy Bell – Ulster wildlife
    Katy Bell is Senior Conservation Officer at Ulster Wildlife, managing species conservation projects across Northern Ireland. Katy holds a BSc Hons in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh and a Masters in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Queen's University Belfast. Katy has worked in various research, ecology and conservation roles for universities and environmental NGOs.

    Gordon Buchanan MBE – wildlife filmmaker
    Gordon Buchanan is a renowned wildlife filmmaker and Sunday Times best-selling author who has worked on numerous BBC documentaries, including the popular The Family & Me series. With a career dedicated to capturing intimate wildlife stories, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking.

    Miranda Krestovnikoff – wildlife presenter
    Miranda Krestovnikoff is a television and radio presenter and author specialising in natural history and environmental programming, including on BBC’s The One Show and Coast. She is vice president of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and a patron of numerous other wildlife organisations in the UK.

    Steve Ormerod – Cardiff University
    Steve Ormerod is a professor in the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University, specialising in freshwater ecology. Steve holds a PhD in river ecology from Cardiff and is also deputy chairman of Natural Resources Wales and a member of the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

    Nadeem Perera – wildlife presenter  
    Nadeem Perera is a television presenter, author and cultural strategist working at the intersection of nature and identity. He is the founder of Hero Hyena, a culture led creative studio exploring wildlife through contemporary storytelling. Nadeem has appeared on a number of wildlife programmes including BBC Two’s Springwatch and CBBC’s One Zoo Three, and co founded Flock Together, a birdwatching collective encouraging greater participation in nature among underrepresented communities.

    Dawn Scott – Nottingham Trent University 
    Dawn Scott is Executive Dean of the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences at Nottingham Trent University. Dawn is a Professor of Mammal Ecology and Conservation. She holds a PhD from the University of Durham and has served as trustee for a Wildlife Trust as well as a council member for The Mammal Society, a charity committed to the research and preservation of British mammals.

  • Andrew Bailey, the Governor, made the final decision on the theme and animals, taking into account the public’s feedback.  

    An internal advisory group, the Banknote Imagery Advisory Group, assessed the findings of both public consultations and focus groups on banknote themes. The Group then advised the Governor on the choice of theme and animal imagery. 

    For more information on the Banknote imagery advisory group, please see the Group’s Terms of Reference and the minutes from their meetings.

    Following the Governor’s decision on the theme for the next series of banknotes, a panel of wildlife experts from across the UK was asked to help create a list of wildlife for the public to choose from in a second consultation. For more information on the expert panel, please see the terms of reference and minutes from their meetings. 

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This page was last updated 07 October 2026