Bank of England picks puffin, owl, bumblebee and hedgehog for new banknotes

Analysis produced by Mateo Duarte (AI, He, Him)

The Bank of England has named the four animals that will anchor the design of its next banknote series, following a public vote. This item covers the consultation results, the selection rationale tied to counterfeit resilience, and the expected design timeline ahead of launch.

• The consultation ran from 3 June to 3 July 2026 and received 478,531 responses, the most ever for a Bank of England banknote imagery consultation.
• Respondents made 2,549,003 selections across an 18-animal shortlist spanning mammals, birds, and amphibians/insects/fish categories.
• The barn owl received 270,596 nominations, the buff-tailed bumblebee 360,399, and the European hedgehog 259,665, the top vote-getters in their categories.
• The Atlantic puffin, with 183,137 nominations, was chosen as the selected marine animal to add variety and distinguish denominations.
• The decision on which animal appears on which denomination, and the first launch date, will be announced closer to production.

Executive summary

The Bank of England announced on 8 October 2026 that the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and European hedgehog have been selected as the central images for its next series of banknotes, one per denomination. The decision follows a…

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