The Bank of England's polymer fiver added a hologram in 2016

The issuer's own pages date the £5 note's hologram patch and describe its tilt effect, without naming the diffractive technology used.

Historical event

September 13, 2016

Site publication

September 18, 2026

What the issuer documents

The Bank of England states on its £5 note page that "the current polymer £5 note was issued on 13 September 2016," replacing a paper note withdrawn the following May. Among the security features it lists: "tilt the note from side to side. Check the words change between 'Five' and 'Pounds'" — the Bank's own description of the hologram patch's behaviour. A companion page, the Bank's polymer explainer, states that "the new polymer notes allow for enhanced security features, such as the see-through window and holograms," tying the feature's existence to the substrate rather than to ink or paper.

What creates the effect

A tilt-activated image swap of this kind is produced by a diffractive optically variable device: a microscopic relief pattern, originally recorded as an interference pattern and then mass-replicated by embossing into a metallised foil, which sends different wavelengths and diffraction orders toward the eye as the viewing angle changes. That places it in the same family as the museum holograms elsewhere in this archive — a genuine recorded optical structure, not a flat printed picture — rather than with Pepper's-ghost illusions or video projections, which reconstruct nothing. It needs no laser or special light to view: ordinary daylight or room light reflecting off the foil is sufficient, and any single holder can trigger the effect by tilting the note in their own hand, with no glasses, headset or fixed viewing position required.

What is not established

Neither Bank of England page names which specific category of device sits behind the word "hologram" on the note. The hologram trade body's glossary distinguishes a "volume hologram," recorded in material thicker than the light's wavelength, from a "Zero Order Device," built from sub-wavelength gratings below 400 nanometres and typically produced by embossing — two different physical structures that can both be marketed under the same everyday word. The Bank's own text describes only what a holder sees, not how the patch is made, so this entry can confirm the effect and its date without confirming its underlying category.

• Which category of optically variable device sits behind the Bank's 'hologram' label on the £5 note?
• Does the effect stay legible after years of folding, creasing and handling?
• How does this mass-replicated foil differ, physically, from a museum's single fine-art hologram?

The date and the visual effect are documented directly by the issuer; the manufacturing category behind the word "hologram" on a banknote is not, and should not be assumed from the label alone.

Sources & reading trail

States the polymer £5 note's 13 September 2016 issue date and describes the hologram patch's tilt behaviour.

Source published: Not established · Retrieved: 16 September 2026

States that the polymer substrate is what enables the see-through window and hologram security features.

Source published: Not established · Retrieved: 16 September 2026

Defines the optical categories, such as volume hologram and Zero Order Device, that a banknote's diffractive feature could fall under.

Source published: Not established · Retrieved: 16 September 2026

Primary documents establish the record; the mechanism reading and the demo questions are Presence Atlas editorial analysis. This retrospective draft does not imply the site published on the event date.

Continue reading

• The security hologram trade body kept its glossary after rebranding
• Browse the complete the archive

Published September 18, 2026, not on the date of the event described.