this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
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There is a new survey with some design proposals for the themes "European Culture" and "Rivers and Birds".

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[โ€“] remon@ani.social 0 points 3 days ago

WTF why is just birds or people? These all suck. How very uncreative ...

[โ€“] olafurp@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Team birds checking in. There are a couple of people designs I like but birds have a much higher hit rate.

[โ€“] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

We used to have birds on our money in Canada. Now it's mostly monuments and buildings. The fiver has the Canadarm on it though, so that one's cool.

[โ€“] disco_tin@feddit.org 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Why so many birds? Why even animals?

[โ€“] pulsey@feddit.org 1 points 5 days ago

why politicians or buildings?

[โ€“] GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago

Why only birds, no cats?

[โ€“] gabelstapler@feddit.org 41 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I find the backsides with the EU buildings too self-praising. I think the European people have more things that unite, than the buerocratic institutions.

The backsides of the people bills are also too general, I would like to see more of the people's work or achievements.

Generally I like the current design with fictional bridges and buildings, so no country is preferred.

[โ€“] wols@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

I also think most of the back sides are just generally uninspired - bland, almost AI-like look, no interesting (or even aesthetic) themes. Many of the front sides I liked, so this is disappointing.

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[โ€“] einkorn@feddit.org 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Uff, there are some ... daring ... design proposals included.

[โ€“] thisislieven@europe.pub 15 points 1 week ago

Yes, but that I actually really like. They have always been pretty bold in colour already, but some of the new designs match that boldness. Some are unlike any notes I have ever seen which I just think is cool.

I love Weird Europe, some of these banknotes perfectly fit the bill (semi-pun).

[โ€“] SpacePirate@feddit.nu 7 points 1 week ago

I'm more worried that none of then appeared to have been created with color blind people in mind. Like at least don't mix green and red. Like 1 in 12 males are color blind and the most common is the red and green one. Source: Wikipedia

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[โ€“] qevlarr@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Keep it abstract! I love the windows and bridges current theme. Couldn't we make a new design with the same colors and prompt?

No famous people!

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Abstract doesn't mean anything. It doesn't evoke any feeling or being European or make it stand out as a European bank note. It could be money from some children's game set.

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[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 20 points 1 week ago (8 children)

~~The survey isn't good. They should've at least written a comment about each note. I don't recognise most of the people on there. ~~

~~Maybe y'all can help out.~~

Here are all the proposals until G. H and I are here (or see comment below).

Design Image
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
B
C
C
C
C
C
C
D
D
D
D
D
D
E
E
E
E
E
E
F
F
F
F
F
F
G
G
G
G
G
G
[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Never mind, the ECB announced who they are

Front Reverse
โ‚ฌ5 Performing arts Maria Callas Street performers (music/dance/theatre) entertaining passersby
โ‚ฌ10 Music Ludwig van Beethoven A song festival with a choir of children and young adults singing
โ‚ฌ20 Universities and schools Marie Curie Skล‚odowska A school or university with a female teacher with young students. There are notebooks and books on the tables
โ‚ฌ50 Libraries Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra A library with some adults reading paper and digital books. A little boy and girl in front of a bookcase trying to get a book
โ‚ฌ100 Museums and exhibitions Leonardo da Vinci Adults and children admiring some examples of street art, contemporary art, etc.
โ‚ฌ200 Public squares Bertha von Suttner A tree-covered square allowing people to come together, with adults and children talking, walking, playing, etc.

Maria Callas isn't even European by birth. She's born in the USA.

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[โ€“] lemming@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Great of you to put the images here, thank you!

Just for the sake of completeness, that's not all the series. I really liked series I, for example.

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[โ€“] e8d79@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Here are the descriptions of the motifs.



Source

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[โ€“] rmuk@feddit.uk 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

One of the stated design goals with the existing design is to make them as generic as possible so as not to show favouritism towards a particular country. If you asked me for famous European figures to put on the notes, I'd probably name Beethoven, Curie and Da Vinci, but by including them you're highlighting a Germany, France/Poland and Italy. The building designs are boring but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The birds are cute, but I'd like to have seen broader nature themes: birds, fish, mammals and biomes would have been nice.

[โ€“] olafurp@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I would have loved a fauna / flower note. Fauna being bird, fish, butterfly (palatable insect), reptile, whale, land mammal.

[โ€“] botbot@feddit.org 12 points 1 week ago

Bridges were a great idea and maybe other infrastructure like railroads and tunnels as a symbol of connecting countries.

The current designs are boring but good. Nature and birds would be good, people not so much.

[โ€“] PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Some designs are quite decent, but I'm not sure the individuals, birds, activities and buildings depicted, resonate with most Europeans. The individuals are of select member states, the birds might go completely unrecognized, the activities are rather academic, and the buildings of EU institutions? WAY too much self-praise. I would rather see subjects that are more broadly applicable, over ones focused on specific individuals, birds, activities and buildings, like: cultural achievements, landmarks spanning multiple member states (seas, mountains, rivers), infrastructure connecting member states, cultural diversity, cultural values, etc.

It would also be neat if these flashy new notes were actually accepted in physical transactions...

[โ€“] olafurp@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Birds help people get started on their birding journey

[โ€“] fenpy@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

I would completely remove people and would add fish, plants and monuments.

[โ€“] Vinylraupe@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 week ago

Would be cool to put food on the bills. Imagine a bowl of spaghetti on the 200โ‚ฌ bill.

Birds! ๐Ÿฆโ€โฌ›

[โ€“] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I really like design D. F is cool as well, really unique design, but I think I prefer the birds because they're more inclusive than people from specific countries.

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[โ€“] botbot@feddit.org 8 points 1 week ago

I don't understand why they included vertical designs and suddenly want pictures of real people on the banknotes when they used to say it is better to have something neutral on there. From the comment here I like B and D most, but I don't know if the images from the comment are the same as the ones in the survey because I think there were more designs. Still B and D are worse than the current designs.

I really like some of them and some look like prints on bus seat covers.

And Ludwig van Beethoven looks mean as hell on some.

[โ€“] thisislieven@europe.pub 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Series F or G for me. F has hand drawn images which is incredibly unusual but I really love it (even more so in the time of AI). It just feels radical and unexpected. G feels both retro and current, more of a typical banknote but still a striking design.

The birds bore me and the institution buildings aren't the worst idea but there was a reason why we only had fictional architecture on the old notes and some of the buildings just aren't that exciting.




[โ€“] ardorhb@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

These two are my favourites as well. Really like the design of both of them. G is number one for me because I like the change of format.

[โ€“] thisislieven@europe.pub 2 points 3 days ago

I think for me as well, if you check the flip side of the G notes I also love that the people show a fair bit of diversity. There's a figure in a wheelchair (50), some people of colour and two sets of people who could well be same-sex couples (or siblings, or friends - imagine your own adventure, 100/200). None of the other designs have this.

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[โ€“] susi7802@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago

Iโ€™ve voted; but basically all designs are beautiful: colorful, optimistic, modern.

H and J for me. I prefer birds much more than people on the design and those two designs are actually colorful and distinct from the current more bland colors.

[โ€“] JensSpahnpasta@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

sound of german ballermann music

"I'm thirsty a Callas is not enough, a Curie won't cure me, take my Cervantes, give me Cerveza"

sound of german ballermann music

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[โ€“] Flexaris@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They're very similar, either people, buildings or birds as main designs and feels boring as well as the designs being mainly ugly. Some are nice but don't feel inclusive for all of Europe. I feel like the designs should be more generic to be inclusive of all countries, so no famous people or country-specific buildings/geography. I like the EU stars, constellations, the map of Europe, symbols of what Europe represents.

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