Active™
De La Rue (United Kingdom)
Type: Windowed security thread — lenticular-based with microscopic fine line printing, producing a left-right tilt-switching effect
Overview
Active™ is a De La Rue proprietary windowed security thread for paper banknotes, combining lenticular optics with specialist microscopic fine line printing to deliver a distinctive and highly legible tilt-activated switching effect. It combines lenticular technology with leading edge microscopic fine line printing to deliver a distinctive security thread that is exclusive to the banknote industry, with a resulting effect that is easy to see and explain to the public: as the note is tilted left to right it shows a clear switching effect with images changing from light colour to dark colour and vice versa.
Technology & Effects
The defining characteristic of Active™ is the directional specificity of its switching effect. Unlike colour-shift threads that respond to tilting in any direction, Active™ produces its switching response specifically when the note is tilted left to right — a defined, teachable authentication gesture that makes public communication straightforward. The images that appear in the thread show a clear switching effect from light to dark and vice versa as the note is tilted left to right.
The lenticular lens structure within the thread focuses reflected light differently depending on the lateral tilt angle, causing the fine line printed imagery to switch between its positive and negative states. The microscopic fine line printing used to create the imagery within the thread requires specialist equipment and processes not available outside the security printing industry, and the precise registration between the lenticular lens array and the underlying print is a significant technical barrier to simulation.
The thread can carry denomination-specific imagery — numerals, text, national symbols — within the switching design, enabling denomination differentiation across a banknote series while maintaining a consistent and recognisable authentication behaviour.
Form Factors & Application
Active™ is available as a windowed security thread, embedded within the banknote paper substrate during the papermaking process and surfacing at intervals to create the characteristic windowed appearance on the reverse of the note. It is compatible with paper banknotes and is available to third-party state printing works and commercial printers, not solely to De La Rue's own printing operations.
Security Levels
Active™ operates as a Level 1 (public) authentication feature. The left-right switching behaviour is immediately visible under normal ambient lighting without any tools and is unambiguous and easy to communicate in public education campaigns. The lenticular-microprint combination provides robust counterfeit resistance at Level 2 — the precise lens-to-print registration cannot be achieved with commercially available lenticular film or standard security printing processes.
Notable Deployments
The first banknote ever to feature Active™ was a Polish commemorative note, with the images of the denomination numeral and the central bank initials showing the clear light-to-dark switching effect as the note is tilted left to right. The notes were printed by the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW SA).
The first fully circulating banknote in the world to feature Active™ was the Central Bank of The Bahamas new $10 banknote, launched in September 2016. When the note is tilted, the colours of the sand dollar and the number 10 in the thread switch from light on dark to dark on light. The Bahamas subsequently extended Active™ across its CRISP Evolution Series, with the $20 denomination issued in October 2022 also featuring the thread as part of the same banknote family.
- Name
- Active™
- Category
- Security Feature
- Effect Types
- Lenticular
- Company
- Linked Features
- 1 security feature