The Bank of England's Banknote Imagery Advisory Group (BIAG) has agreed to recommend the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee, and European hedgehog as the central imagery for the four denominations of the next series of banknotes, known as Series H.
The recommendation follows a public consultation in June 2026, which received nearly 500,000 responses via an online survey, post, emails, and phone calls. The BIAG considered the public's views alongside the Bank's objectives for counterfeit resilience and celebrating UK nature.
The chosen set of animals includes the most popular animal from each of the three consultation categories (Mammals; Birds; and Amphibians, Insects and Fish), as well as the most popular marine animal from the shortlist. The Atlantic puffin was selected to introduce a marine environment, despite the fox or kingfisher receiving more selections in their respective categories.
Members of the BIAG considered how the forms, movements, and habitats of the proposed animals could be differentiated to aid public identification of denominations and support security features.