Owls, bees, puffins and hedgehogs: the Bank of England names the animals for its new banknotes
Nearly half a million people voted in the biggest banknote imagery consultation the Bank has ever run. The four winners will replace Churchill, Austen, Turner and Turing over the coming years.
The Bank of England has announced that the barn owl, the Atlantic puffin, the buff-tailed bumblebee and the European hedgehog will be the central images of its next series of banknotes, chosen by the public in the largest banknote imagery consultation the Bank has ever held.
The Bank said nearly 500,000 people responded to the consultation, choosing from a shortlist of 18 native animals drawn up with a panel of wildlife experts. The buff-tailed bumblebee was the most popular animal with 360,399 nominations, followed by the barn owl with 270,596 and the European hedgehog with 259,665. The Atlantic puffin was selected as the most popular marine animal, to add variety to the series and celebrate the British coastline.
The notes will continue to carry a portrait of the monarch. The Bank said it would decide which animal appears on which denomination in due course, and expected the first note of the new series to be launched over the next few years. The 5 pound note carrying Sir Winston Churchill, first issued in 2016, will be the first to be replaced, followed by the 10 pound note with Jane Austen, the 20 pound note with JMW Turner and the 50 pound note with Alan Turing.
Nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters.Victoria Cleland, Bank of England
The announcement follows the Bank's March decision to stop featuring famous Britons on future notes, a move that drew cross-party political criticism and prompted speculation that the Bank wanted to avoid controversies around historic figures, Reuters reported. Victoria Cleland, the Bank's chief cashier, said: "I am delighted that nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters."
Cash accounted for under 10 per cent of payments in 2024, but the Bank says it remains the preferred payment method for about one in seven people, and 91.5 billion pounds was in circulation at the end of February 2026. The Bank says a distinctive set of animal designs will also make the notes harder to counterfeit.
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