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Syrian Passport “Scandal”: Watermark Bearing the Photographer’s Name and Copyright
Several media outlets and television channels claimed in reports broadcast on Saturday, 29 August, that the new Syrian authorities had used, in the design of a recently issued passport, an image published online that contained a watermark bearing the photographer’s name and copyright information. They described the incident as a “new scandal.”
Following this, Syrian accounts on Facebook circulated the same claim, alleging that the Ministry of Interior had used, in the design of the electronic “biometric” passport, an image of Damascus’s Al-Hamidiyah Souq taken from the internet without removing the watermark bearing the name of Syrian photographer Wasim Asmar.
The circulated image shows two pages from the Syrian passport, featuring a photograph of Al-Hamidiyah Souq with the photographer’s name visible within it.
The fact-checking team at Takkad verified the claim and found it to be **misleading**. The findings showed that the image was not part of a recent design for the Syrian passport. Rather, it had already been used in the biometric passport officially issued for the first time by the former Syrian regime on 20 August 2023, with the photographer’s name visible in the design from the outset.
The photograph belongs to Syrian photographer Wasim Asmar, who took it in 2009 during an exploratory visit to Damascus. Asmar later appeared in a video published by Syria TV, in which he expressed his surprise at finding the photograph inside the pages of the Syrian passport. He also noted that the former regime had used the image as it was, without removing the watermark.
The Syrian state launched its new visual identity on 3 July 2025. The launch presentation included a model of a green passport bearing the new Syrian eagle adopted as part of the visual identity. Its design differs from that of the current navy-blue biometric passport.
As of 30 August 2026, the Syrian Ministry of Interior had not announced the start of issuing a new passport linked to the new visual identity. The biometric passport adopted in 2023 remains in use.
The European Union Council’s PRADO database also continues to list the 2023 model as the latest official Syrian passport model.
**Source: Takkad**
