The Bank of England will introduce animals instead of historical figures on its upcoming banknote series, marking the end of a tradition that began in 1970 with William Shakespeare. The four selected species, the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee, and European hedgehog, were chosen from a shortlist of 18 following a public poll that gathered nearly half a million votes, the highest response ever recorded for a banknote consultation.
Although the Atlantic puffin placed sixth with 183,137 votes, officials included it to emphasize the British coastline. The buff-tailed bumblebee led the poll with 360,399 votes, followed by the European hedgehog (256,665) and barn owl (270,596). The red fox and common kingfisher, which received 244,651 and 211,277 votes respectively, were excluded from the final selection.
The new designs will appear on the £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes, though the exact distribution across denominations remains undecided. The monarch’s portrait will continue to appear on each note as required by law.
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She stated that the chosen wildlife would improve the notes’ security features while celebrating the UK’s biodiversity. The Bank has previously addressed criticism over gender representation by adding Jane Austen to the £10 note in 2017 and removing references to governors linked to the slave trade in 2021.
Cash in circulation reached £91.5 billion by February 2026, despite a decade-long decline in its use for everyday transactions. The shift to animal imagery has sparked controversy, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch labeling the move as “erasing our history.” Others have dismissed the decision as “total nonsense.” The new notes will undergo years of development to ensure they meet durability and accessibility standards.
The first notes featuring the animals are not expected for several years, meaning the public will have to wait before seeing them in circulation.
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