License plate (Belgium) (1953-2010)
The license plates issued in Belgium until mid-November 2010 had red characters on a white background. Depending on the arrangement of the letters and numbers on the license plate, a distinction is made between twelve codes, with the current Belgian license plates being assigned the codes 13 and 14 based on this.
General series
Codes 1 to 5
From 1953 to 1962, Belgian license plates had a letter and four digits separated by a period or two. They were named Code 1 to Code 5 according to the position of the letter on the sign.
- Code 1: Type X.1111
- Code 2: Type 1.X.111
- Code 3: Type 11.X.11
- Code 4: Type 111.X.1
- Code 5: Type 1111.X
With the exception of the letters A, I, O, P and Q, all letters were assigned to these codes. The numbers 0 and 1 could not be on the sign four times.
License plates with the combinations 000.P.1 - 999.P.9 and 0001.P to 9999.P were assigned to public buses and postal vehicles.
Codes 6 to 10
From 1962 to 1973 the Belgian license plates had two letters and three digits separated by a period or two. They were named Code 6 to Code 10 according to the position of the letters on the sign.
- Code 6: Type XX.111
- Code 7: Type 1.XX.11
- Code 8: Type 11.XX.1
- Code 9: Type 111.XX
- Code 10: Type X.111.X
For codes 6 to 9, all letters were assigned with the exception of the letters I, O and Q. The series from EA to EZ, GA to GZ, LA to LZ, MA to MZ and PA to PZ have been kept free for motorcycle license plates. Numbers with three zeros were initially not assigned. They were later released as custom license plates, if required, against payment of an increased fee (€ 874). The letters I, O and Q were not assigned for code 10 either. Signs from C.001.A to X.999.Z were assigned.
Code 11
From 1973 to 2010 the Belgian license plates had three letters, followed by three digits, separated by a slightly thicker central point, and later by a line. Initially, the letter I was not assigned and the letters M, O, Q and W were not assigned as the second and third letters. There were no signs with three zeros.
- Code 11: Type XXX-111
The license plates with the thick point in the middle were issued from 1973 to 1997 with the combinations from AAA-001 to PLL-999. There were also reallocations of unusual numbers.
From 1997 signs were issued in a new style with a hyphen in the middle, initially from PLN-001 to PZZ 999. In 1998, unusual letter-number combinations were reassigned, until from January to August 1999 the series from RAA-001 to RVJ- 999 was issued.
From August 1999 new signs were issued with a seal above the hyphen. They started with SAA-001 and ended the series with the SRZ-999 sign, whereby - perhaps as a test - the series with SPW and SRW were also issued.
Then they returned to the R-series and issued the signs from RVK-001 to RZZ-999, finally also signs with I, M, Q and W from RVI-001. The letter O was still not used.
On August 1st, 2000 one began to emit older groups of letters, but now with an I, M, Q and W as the second and / or third letter. The series began with AAI plates, followed by license plates with AAM, AAQ, AAW, ABI, ABM, ABQ etc. After HZW came JAI. There were also no labels in the general series with an M, O, Q or W as the first letter.
The letters RUW were followed by the series SAI, SAM, SAQ, SAW, SBI, SBM, etc.
From license plate SSA-001 onwards, no letters were left out with the exception of the O. For the general series, the letter groups from SSA to SSZ, TAA to TWZ, TYA to TZZ, VAA to VZZ, XAA to XZZ and YAA to YZZ were output. The series from TXA was assigned to taxis, the series from UAA to trailers, the series from WAA motorcycles and the series from ZAA dealers. Classic cars were given groups of letters from OAA.
Code 12
From June 25, 2008 license plates with the code 12 were issued. Initially, they were only assigned to car owners who registered using the Internet. When there were no more plates with code 11 available, all vehicle owners received license plates with this code. This was the case from March 19, 2009.
- Code 12: Type 111-XXX
The series with the letters CFC was the last with this code.
motorcycles
For motorcycles, license plates of codes 6 to 9 were initially issued from 1953 to 1962. The group of letters began with E, G, L or M. Signs beginning with the letter P were also intended for these approvals, but were never issued.
From 1962 to 2006, two-line license plates of code 11 with the combination MXX 111 were issued. From 2006 to mid-November 2009 the combination was called WXX 111. The series with the letters WMS was probably the last one with this code.
pendant
It was not until 1990 that heavier trailers (from 500 kg, from 2001 from 750 kg weight) had to carry their own license plates. Until then, they had the license plate number of the towing vehicle.
From 1990 to 2001 license plates of code 11 with the combination UXX-111 were issued. The series ended with the letter combination UVL. From November 2001 the trailers got the combination QXX-111. These license plates were EU plates with black letters on a white background. The series with the letters QLE was probably the last with this code.
Antique car
Special license plates for vintage cars have only existed in Belgium since 1997. Until 1999, plates with from OAA-001 to OAE-999 (Code 11) were issued. From 1999 to 2001, OBA-001 to OBD-999 followed. From 2001 to 2006, the letter combinations from OAF to OAZ were initially issued. From 2006 onwards, combinations from OBE to OCU followed. The OCU-148 sign was the last to be issued.
Taxis
Taxis were not specially marked until 1999. They received the letter groups from TXA to TXF in Code 11.
Rental vehicles (with driver) were initially given the letter combination TXL and from 2008 TXH.
Dealer
From 1953 to 1990, dealer vehicles had a black five-digit number from 10,000 to 25,000 on a yellow background. This series is no longer valid.
From 1990 to 1997 they had a red letter-number combination on a white background with the letter groups from ZAA to ZAS (without ZAC, ZAI, ZAK, ZAM and ZAO) and ZBA to ZBT (without ZBI, ZBM and ZBO). During 1997 there was a color change. The letter-number combination was now green. The letter combinations from ZBU to ZBY and ZCS to ZEM (without ZBW, ZCW, ZCZ, ZDI, ZDM, ZDO and ZDQ) were output.
Motorcycles from dealers were given the combinations ZMA and ZMB, trailers the combination ZUA.
Test vehicles
From 1990 to 1997, test vehicles bore three letters and three digits of code 11 in black letters on a white background with the letter combinations from ZZA to ZZH. During 1997 there was a color change. The letter-number combination was now green. The letter combinations from ZZI to ZZZ (without ZZM, ZZO, ZZQ, ZZU and ZZW) were output. From 2002 the combinations from ZZA to ZZH and repetition numbers were also issued.
From 2008 the letter combinations ZZA, ZZB and ZZC of code 12 were issued.
Motorcycles were given the letter combination ZZM. The ZZW series was kept free for them.
Followers received the combination ZZU. Here the ZZQ series was kept free.
Highest approvals
The license plates with the highest information (on November 4, 2010) were:
| General series | motorcycles | Antique car | pendant | Taxis | Rental car | Dealer | Test vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 532-CEL | WNA-631 | OCU-148 | QLE-863 | TXF-010 | TXH-607 | ZEM-182 | 438-ZZC |
Further information
Further information, in particular about the respective year of registration, and a more detailed list of the letter groups of the license plates valid from November 2010 can be found in the article System of vehicle license plates (Belgium) .