Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

This study examines the characteristics of banknote iconography in Latin America in terms of region and subject. The subject+subtitle combination of the banknote iconography of the Islands of America has a high ratio of figures･portraits+architecture･structures, and the main materials are the tropical climate and the physical environment of marine islands. Central and South America’s subject+ subtitle combination has a high proportion of figures･portraits+nature･ecology, and the main materials are ancient remains and relics, and colorful natural and ecological landscapes. In particular, the Argentine banknote deserves to be evaluated as the most ‘geographical’ banknote iconography in that the country’s ecological landscape, map, and direction map are serialized by face value. When all the subject and materials appearing in Latin American banknotes are put together, the types of identity enhancement and value orientation contained in banknote iconography can be categorized into six categories: authority, history, material, art, nature, and ecology. In this process, it is confirmed that the stage of ecological value orientation is coming as a new trend of global social change(commitment to tradition→ material success→pursuit of quality of life) presented in the modernization theory and world social norms theory. As a result, Latin American banknote iconography reflects the diverse human and natural characteristics of the region while differentiation and commonality coexist by region and subject, thereby confirming and enhancing their identity. In particular, the characteristics of the natural environment go beyond their role as assets to enhance their identity, and actively and proactively contain ecological values ​​that are emerging as important norms in our lives and in the world society today. These characteristics have implications for the past-oriented iconography of Korean banknotes.