Aptamers are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that can specifically bind to their target with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers have gained widespread attention in recent years as possible replacements for antibodies within many analytical fields, due to their high chemical and thermal stability and relative low cost of production. Red blood cells are of interest within not only the medical field, but also are of interest within forensic science. Few aptamers have been reported that can specifically detect human red blood cells, or surface proteins of, but they have great potential for use as biorecognition elements within immunoassays or biosensors. Three aptamers have been identified from recent literature that have been designed to bind to human red blood cells as a whole cell target or glycophorin A as a protein-based target. However, they are yet to be fully characterised for their binding affinity to red blood cells, and no sequence optimisation has been conducted. Within this work, a comprehensive characterisation of three reported aptamers has been conducted.