License plate (Vatican City)
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The Vatican City has had its own registration system since 1930 . Since fewer than 500 vehicles are registered in the Vatican, it is rare to see a vehicle from the smallest country in the world, and when it does, it is in Rome .
The nationality symbol V is almost never seen on vehicles due to the relatively clear license plates. As in Italy , the Vatican number plates are slightly smaller at the front than at the rear of the vehicle.
history
The first Vatican City license plates were issued from 1930, a year after the Lateran Treaty was signed . The license plates consisted of the letters SCV ( lat. Status Civitatis Vaticanæ "Vatican City") and a three-digit number in black letters on a white background. This color combination has never been changed to this day.
For motorcycles and tractors, the number was prefixed with a zero. The format of the signs was different and was not standardized until 1960 when the format was adapted to the Italian license plates (267 × 62 mm in front, 275 × 200 mm in the back). From 1982 single-line rear license plates in the format 300 × 100 mm were issued.
From 1988 the license plates were divided into two categories. State and official vehicles kept the previous code SCV , private vehicles now received the code CV ( Italian: Città del Vaticano "Vatican City") and a five-digit number, starting from 00001 . The Vatican plates are still the same as the Italian plates from 1985-1994.
The license plates have been made of Plexiglas since 2011 and the format has again been adapted to the Italian license plates (340 × 115 mm at the front, 486 × 109 mm at the back). The cardinals' company cars and private vehicles have license plates in red on a white background. The Pope 's official vehicles , there are around 60 worldwide, all have the same registration number SCV 1 .
Pope John Paul II on St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, in a popemobile with the registration number SCV 1
Example for the use of the nationality symbol "V"
Others
Volkswitz found the following explanation for the letters SCV: "Si Christ vidisset" (Latin: "if Christ had seen that") / "Se Cristo vedesse" (ita: "if Christ saw / would have seen it") - and in the reverse of the letters: “vi caccerebbe subito” (“he would immediately drive you to the devil ”).
Web links
- Information and images on license plates from the Vatican (English and Italian)
- Images of license plates from the Vatican (Francoplaque)
- Images of license plates from the Vatican (Plateshack)