Expect Norwegian travellers to cut a dash as they travel across the globe.

While EU citizens’ passports are coloured an inoffensive but indistinct burgundy, the Scandinavian nation’s passports are distinctly finished in white, turquoise or red – and contain a surprising feature that should brighten up proceedings for passport controllers the world over.

The Scandinavian nation’s passports are distinctly finished in white, turquoise or red

The work of Neue Design Studio, which won a competition to redesign the documents and national ID cards in 2014, the passport is based on the theme The Norwegian Landscape.

Pages feature minimalist interpretations of the country’s most striking landscapes, and show one of its most mesmerising phenomena only under specific circumstances.

How the document's pages normally appear

Should airport security staff – or anyone else – shine the passport’s pages under ultraviolet light, the otherwise elusive Northern Lights will instantly appear as iridescent trails on the paper.

But under ultraviolet light...

The Finnish passport also exhibits a bit of Nordic design nous. It features an elk on the bottom of each page and bored travellers who flip them rapidly will see the animal amble across the document.

A similar effect is seen on the Slovenian passport.

Norway's travel document isn't the only one that's transformed under a UV-A light. Each page of the Canadian passport bursts into life.

The Canadian passport under blacklight

The UK passport was given an overhaul last year, with nifty designs featuring the likes of John Constable, Shakespeare, Charles Babbage and Antony Gormley.

The UK passport design

We're also big fans of the Philippines' effort, starring this imposing eagle.

Passports can be beautiful