Portraits on banknotes: a study of the gender gap

Notwithstanding the growing tendency to move beyond a celebratory perspective and to depict non-human subjects, portraiture remains highly popular in banknote design. Historically, however, these portraits have been exclusively male, and while some female portraits have begun to appear over time, depictions of women remain rare even today. In fact, using a database created specifically for this study, we can see that women, excluding Elizabeth II, are present on only 5.6% of banknotes and on 9% of those featuring portraits. While in recent years some central banks have established gender equality on banknotes a priori, in other cases female portraits have been introduced following participatory public campaigns that have called for greater recognition of women's contributions to society. Given that the iconography of banknotes aims to express the values and identity of the issuing country and to depict subjects to whom citizens can easily relate, it is important that central banks remain attentive to civil society and follow its changes.