Abstract This dissertation explores the (past, present and future) identity of Macao and questions associated with its transformation. These issues are investigated through the analysis of Macao banknotes, coins and stamps, banal but necessary (and so significant) circulating items of the city. At the time when the territory's sovereignty was handed back to China, Macao had been governed by the Portuguese for more than four hundred years. As a result, the small Chinese city has inevitably inherited some western characteristics from the colonising power in terms of culture, politics, and religion. The impact of longstanding Portuguese influence on a predominately Chinese population has had the effect of creating a society that could be argued to be a hybrid of the East and the West. The identity of Macao has long been depicted as a combination of Chinese and Portuguese characteristics. This thesis examines the significance of Portugal and China to the development of the identity of Macao. The examination is made through the investigation of the iconography and symbols that are and have been used on daily circulating items, such as banknotes, coins and stamps. Macao’s unique currency and postal system has enabled it to have a special status compared to other cities in China. The difference allowed Macao in its means of self-symbolisation may be taken as demonstrating (and even symbolising) the high degree of autonomy granted the former Portuguese enclave under the leadership of China's central government. Early coins and stamps witness strong Portuguese influence in design and the selection of images represented. Over time, Chinese and local characteristics emerge in the designs of Macao’s currency and postal articles. From the 1970's on, for stamps and for banknotes, images and design characteristics of China and of Macao itself (e.g. landscape features)have begun to dominate designs. Macao is unique not just because of its mixture of Chinese and Portuguese features, but also because of the long co-existence of different cultures. The dual nationality of many Macao residents today is a piece of political evidence to show that for individuals national identity may be mixed. The peaceful co-existence of religions of longstanding, especially Chinese Buddhism and Catholicism, even among members of the one family, proves an enduring diversity of faith in Macao. Theorising Macao identity involves reference to contending theories of inter-cultural space and imagination, Can Macao identity be considered a hybrid or is it rather the case that different cultures are juxtaposed in Macao while continuing to develop independently of each other? Are both of these propositions true? The tools of cultural criticism and post-colonial theory are brought to bear on these questions. Macao, despite its geo-political position, is constantly depicted as possessing hybrid characteristics of China and Portugal. Before and since the Handover, with sovereignty of the territory returning to China, a question has arisen as to what extent Macao can decide and develop its own identity. No one doubts that due to the political and social changes in Macao, the identity of the city is shifting from a more Portuguese to a more Chinese and local orientation. In what ways does local identity in Macao overlap and in what ways does it differ from a more general national/cultural Chinese identity? To what extent can study of the symbolisation of identity on Macao banknotes, coins and stamps designs cast light on such questions?