Guns on Euros

The European Central Bank is currently running a public vote where EU citizens can choose their favourite design for the next generation of euro banknotes.[1] It is a nice exercise in civic engagement. People get to feel involved in the visual identity of the currency they use every day.

Luxembourg's Directorate of Defence decided to join the conversation. They posted AI-generated images of their own proposed banknote designs on social media. The 5-euro note featured an A400M military transport aircraft. The 20-euro note had a satellite. The 100-euro note sported a tank. And the 200-euro note, the pièce de résistance, displayed a machine gun.[2]

"Forget alternative proposals," the post read. "What about European security?"

It was meant to be a light-hearted nod to the importance of defence spending. It was not received that way.

An MP from the LSAP questioned whether this was the image Luxembourg wanted to present of itself, noting that the Grand Duchy had never glorified weapons before. He made the reasonable distinction that investing in defence is one thing, but boasting about weaponry is another. The president of the army union SPAL could not find anything positive to say either, calling the post tasteless and suggesting the defence sector surely had other priorities.[3]

There is something darkly funny about the whole thing. Luxembourg, a country with one of the smallest militaries in NATO, deciding that what the euro really needs is a machine gun on the 200. The Directorate of Defence, a government office, using AI to generate images of weapons on money, then posting them publicly like a teenager sharing memes. The same government that prides itself on diplomacy and humanitarian values green-lighting tank-themed cash.

To be fair, the EU is asking citizens for banknote ideas. The Directorate submitted theirs, in a way. They just happened to choose the most aggressive possible interpretation of "European values." Other people might have suggested landscapes, bridges, cultural figures. Luxembourg's defence ministry went with a machine gun.

The Directorate has since apologised, and the defence minister confirmed the designs were not approved by her. The post has been quietly walked back. But the internet remembers, and the images are still circulating.

As a commentary on how European defence discourse has shifted, it is actually quite revealing. A government defence directorate felt comfortable enough, or at least bold enough, to put military hardware on currency and call it a contribution to the conversation. That would have been unthinkable five years ago. The fact that someone thought this was a good idea, got it through whatever internal review existed (if any), and hit post, says more about the current mood than any policy paper.

Meanwhile, the ECB's actual candidate designs are far more conventional, featuring themes like European culture, nature, and shared values. No machine guns. The public vote is open until the end of August.[4]

Luxembourg's defence directorate will presumably think twice before submitting its next design proposal. Or maybe they will not. Hard to say.