Women Artists Lead in SBP Banknote Design Competition

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced the winners of its art competition for new banknote designs, with women taking the lead.

According to the results shared on the Central Bank website, the top five designs for new banknotes were created by woman artists. Of the 10 successful designs, six were by women.

Women designed the best notes for denominations of 10, 100, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 rupees whereas men designed the best 20 and 50 rupees notes.

The State Bank congratulated and praised the winners and all participants in the competition.

The second-place design for Rs500 note was also created by a woman artist, while the second-place designs for Rs10 and 5,000 notes were by men.

Many designers incorporated images of Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah while some included pictures of Fatima Jinnah, referred to as the “Mother of the Nation.”

Dr Sherry Abidi won the first prize for Rs10 note while Mirza Sufyan took second place for the same denomination.

Haroon Khan won the first prize for Rs20 note design and Syed Fawad Hussain was awarded for the best Rs50 note design.

Hadiya Hassan and Aini Zahra secured the first and second positions, respectively, for Rs500 note designs.

Noorain Aslam’s design for Rs1,000 note achieved first place.

Maimoona Afzal was the only designer to win first place in two categories – Rs100 and 5,000 notes.

Karim Muhammad received the second prize in Rs5,000 note category.

The successful designs reflected symbolic elements chosen by a committee of experts, considering cultural heritage and progressive thinking.

These designs would be sent to international experts who would use them as a guide while freely designing the new series of banknotes for the State Bank of Pakistan.