The primary function of a passport is, of course, to grant you entry to as many international destinations as possible. It’s fun to flip through the pages and see all the stamps, but aesthetics aren’t really a priority. Most passports have a fairly similar look. The vast majority are either blue or red, with a few dozen coming in green and fewer than 10 countries featuring black covers. That got us thinking: Which countries stand out from the pack? Boasting eye-catching emblems and surprising color choices, here’s a (highly subjective) list of the 10 most interesting passport books around the world.

Bhutan

Most passports don’t have dragons on them, but then again, most countries aren’t nicknamed “Land of the Thunder Dragon.” Bhutan’s emblem — a circular design containing a male and female dragon, a lotus symbolizing purity, and a thunderbolt representing harmony between religious and secular power — is prominently displayed on the country’s passport book. If you’re interested in visiting Bhutan, you won’t be alone: The landlocked Himalayan country, one of the last surviving Buddhist kingdoms, is popping up on more and more itineraries as of late.

Japan

Sometimes less is more, and that’s certainly the case with Japan’s passport cover. The imperial seal of Japan, also known as the chrysanthemum crest, appears smack dab in the middle of a red background with Kanji text above and English written below. In addition to its visually pleasing design, the document is one of the strongest in the world: Only Singapore’s passport grants visa-free access to more countries. 

Kyrgyzstan

Wherever you place it in your overall “-stan” rankings, there’s no denying the beauty of Kyrgyzstan’s passport. Concentric rings surround the country’s coat of arms — which features a falcon, a sunrise, the Tian Shan mountains, and the country’s name in Kyrgyz — on a blue background. As a bonus, the passport is made from eco-friendly materials.

Mongolia

Mongolia issued the world’s first diplomatic passport roughly 800 years ago. The country’s current passport is simple, yet distinctive, thanks to the prominently displayed former emblem of the Mongolian People’s Republic (which was used from 1945 to 1992) and a bold red background color.

New Zealand

One of just seven black passports in the world, New Zealand’s is also the only one to include the Māori language on it: Uruwhenua Aotearoa (“New Zealand passport”), which is displayed before the same words in English. The Kiwi passport is also notable for the silver ferns adorning the edge, a uniquely eye-catching design that many with more conventional covers in our luggage are surely envious of.

Norway

Fans of Scandinavian design will be unsurprised to learn that Norway’s passport is regularly considered among the best-designed in the world. Featuring the country’s name written in four languages (Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Northern Sami, and English), the red cover is sleek, minimalist, and features a small version of Norway’s coat of arms in the top left corner. Norway’s passport also boasts a clever design trick: Under a UV light, the pages reveal an image of the country’s famous northern lights.

South Korea

South Korea’s passport, which is tied with Japan’s as the second-strongest in the world with visa-free access to 188 destinations, is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing. Most design elements — namely the coat of arms and the words “Republic of Korea Passport” in both English and Korean — are to the center right, while the taegeuk (a national symbol whose name means “supreme ultimate” and is similar to the yin-yang symbol) is subtly embossed on the bottom left.

Switzerland

This famously neutral country — whose Latin name, Helvetia, inspired a certain font you may have heard of — identifies its passport in all four of its official languages: Schweizer Pass (German), Passeport suisse (French), Passaporto svizzero (Italian), and Passaport svizzer (Romansch). Switzerland’s passport book was designed by RETINAA, a studio based in Geneva, and its pièce de résistance is a series of topographic lines using actual Alpine maps; when seen under UV light, a Swiss cross comes into focus.

Tuvalu

Not only is the light blue color of this passport rare, but it’s also for a country many people haven’t even heard of, let alone traveled to. Tuvalu, a Polynesian nation located roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii, opted for a largely conventional approach with a familiar font and the placement of the coat of arms in the center. But that color, which evokes the calm waters of the Pacific, makes it stand out.

Vatican City

Even the pope needs a passport. The design is simple enough, but the half-circle reading “Stato della Città del Vaticano” on a green background is distinctive — as is the fact that vanishingly few people are actually eligible to hold this document. Vatican City is the world’s smallest country both in terms of size (just 0.17 square miles) and population (roughly 500 to 800 full-time residents).