Friday, October 09, 2020

Quaid-e-Azam portrait on Pakistan's banknotes

All of us in our life somehow or other dealt with currency notes of Pakistan. Throughout our history different series were issued with different designs and colors, but one thing is common in all of the series (except the RBI Pakistan imprint series, first emergency issue series and the first SBP series), i.e. Portrait of Quaid-e-Azam.

The picture of Quaid-e-Azam used on banknotes was taken by Mr. Arthur Sequeira in the studios of Messrs. I. Sequeira & Sons in Saddar Karachi (where the Atrium Mall stands today) in 1943. It was a black & white photo, colored by studio artists to show his actual attire when he came to the studios for his “Official” photograph.

 

 
 
Following picture was taken on the inauguration of the official photograph of Quaid-e-Azam. The inauguration was done by Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan in the presence of the family of Messrs. I. Sequeira & Sons Photographers, Karachi.
 

 
Vignette used in Banknotes

This picture was used as the portrait and watermark on banknotes of Pakistan starting from the SBP second series up to sixth series. For the seventh series this picture was modified/altered for the Quaid-e-Azam to be shown wearing a Sherwani.