The new Belgian ePassports celebrate the country’s most famous comic strip characters, including Tintin and the Smurfs, alongside new security features

From February 7, the country now issue passports defined by images of its comic strip heroes.

In a statement, the Belgian government said, “The new Belgian passport will be recognizable thanks to its original design, which honours one of the jewels of our culture: the heroines and heroes of comic strips.” The statement also said the new passports, which were developed with the help of anti-fraud specialists, will be safer than the previous ones.

Tintin’s famous moon rocket and the Moulinsart mansion of his friend Captain Haddock will feature in new passports, as well as the Smurfs and cowboy Lucky Luke.

In a related development, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted, “On the occasion of the launch of the new passport, a temporary exhibition on the history of the Belgian passport will run at the Comics Museum (Zandstraat 20, 1000 Brussels) from January 28 to March 6, 2022.”