Alexander Pracht
Armenia has unveiled the new design of its national passport, with Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan presenting it to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday.
Sargsyan said the new passport will include biometric data, in line with requirements set by the European Union, as Armenia negotiates potential visa-free travel with the bloc. She added that the biometric passports are expected to be fully introduced by the end of the year.
The redesign also brings significant visual changes. The passport’s cover color will shift from blue to red, while the inner pages that previously featured only Armenia’s coat of arms will now display varied designs throughout.
One of the spreads depicts Hayk Nahapet, the mythological founder of Armenia, holding a bow. Other pages feature iconic landmarks from all ten provinces and Yerevan. The capital is represented through a reconstructed vision of Erebuni Fortress, dating back to the 8th century BC and widely considered the origin of Yerevan, alongside a cuneiform writing in the Urartian language.
Additional Yerevan landmarks include the Cascade complex and the National Assembly.
Landmarks outside the capital include Armenia’s highest point Mount Aragats, the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, and the historic Khor Virap Monastery.
The inclusion of Khor Virap has drawn criticism on social media, as the monastery, widely known for offering one of the best views of Mount Ararat and a popular photo destination, was depicted facing away from the mountain, leaving it out of the design.
The decision is part of the current government’s broader effort to avoid using Ararat, a symbolically important landmark for Armenians located across the border in Turkey, in official imagery.
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