English series (1951–1962)

The obverse features the portrait of Antonio Luna, a general in the Philippine–American War. The reverse features a painting of his brother, Juan Luna, depicting the blood compact between Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna, the chieftain of Bohol.

Pilipino series (1969–1972)

In 1967, Sergio Osmeña replaced the portrait of Luna. The note is now predominantly red in color. On the reverse, it now features the Old Legislative Building. The design of the obverse was later revised, switching the positions of the "50" on the lower right corner with the Central Bank logo on the upper right, the signature of the Central Bank Governor was placed beside the signature of the President of the Philippines, the font for Republika ng Pilipinas was also changed and the text Limampung Piso was made into one line. This design was later used when the Bagong Lipunan series was released in 1973.

Ang Bagong Lipunan series (1973–1985)

In 1973, the "Ang Bagong Lipunan" text was added and was overprinted on the watermark area.

New Design series (1987–2013)

In 1987, the bill was completely redesigned and new elements regarding Osmeña's achievement as the first Speaker of the Philippine Assembly, a precursor of the current House of Representatives were shown on the right side, namely, the mace and the gavel, the symbols used by the Philippine Congress. Also on the right side is the Fuente Osmeña located in Cebu City, Osmeña's birthplace. The reverse side featured the Old Legislative Building, the home to various legislative bodies of the Philippine government. The banknote was designed by Rafael Asuncion.

After the creation of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 1993, its new logo was incorporated on all the New Design series bills.

In 1998, the year of printing was added at the bottom of the denomination value located at the upper left corner of the obverse.

In 1999, the names of the signatories on the bills were added starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Joseph Estrada.

In 2001, starting with banknotes featuring the signature of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the name of the Old Legislative Building (Dating Gusali ng Batasan, with the name was located at the lower-left side) on the reverse side was changed to the "National Museum" (Gusali ng Pambansang Museo) and the name was moved at the top of the building, to reflect the turnover made by the Congress of the Philippines to the National Museum. The name of the building's facade was changed from "Executive House" to "National Museum". Also, the serial number was moved at the top of the denomination that was located on the lower left side of the banknote.

New Generation series (2010–present)

In 2010, the portrait of Sergio Osmeña was revised, a picture of the first Philippine Assembly and Osmeña and General Douglas MacArthur's landing in Leyte was added on the lower left corner and bottom center of the note respectively. The reverse now features the Taal Lake and the giant trevally.^[4]

In 2017, an updated version of the New Generation series 50 piso banknote was issued with changes in the font size of the year of issue and the italicization of the scientific name on the reverse side. The text "October 1944" was added after the word "Leyte Landing" on the obverse.^[5]

In 2020, an enhanced version of the 50 peso banknote was released. It added one pair of tactile marks for the visually impaired, on both the extreme left and right side of the front of the note.

The new BSP logo, which was redesigned in January 2021 was adopted in all NGC banknotes starting with the 2022 issued banknotes featuring the signatures of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and BSP Governor Felipe Medalla.