All banknotes are printed with the EU flag, covering 1 1 abbreviations of "European Central Bank" (BCE, ECB, EZB, ε κ, EKP), maps of Europe and "Euro" (Latin: Euro, Greek: ε) written in the language that was first introduced to the euro countries in early 20 12.

The final design of this set of banknotes was selected from 44 works in a competition organized by the European Central Bank in February196. The design of Robert Karina of Austrian National Bank was announced as the winner at the European Council held in Dublin on February 3/96.

Although Robert Karina initially used the existing bridges in Europe as his design elements, the drawings of bridges, doors and windows on all euro banknotes were based on the architectural styles of different historical periods. The different architectural styles displayed by different banknotes are listed in detail in the table below.