License plate (Europe)

This article describes the structure of the license plates in the individual European countries.

If the nationality symbol is not attached either as a separate badge or on the plate with the vehicle registration number itself, or if the latter sequence of letters is illegible, you can often distinguish the different countries using the sequence of letters / numbers. However, the criteria are not always clear and many countries use different schemes for specific purposes.

The following is an afflicted with the aforementioned weaknesses Difference key for Europe .

Some very small states are omitted because, other than in the immediate vicinity, it is less likely to find such a vehicle than one of the special license plates mentioned above. In addition, the marks of these states usually show the country's coat of arms in a conspicuous size.

special cases

Russian license plates are to be mentioned separately : A special feature is the regional code consisting of two to three digits in a separate box on the right, written slightly higher. The rest is a sequence of letters and numbers (the one for normal vehicles is listed below, otherwise it may vary). However, only letters that appear to appear in the Cyrillic alphabet are used.

Furthermore, in Belgium there are any combination of a total of five letters and numbers (in red letters). They haven't been reissued for a long time, but because they are tied to a person and not a vehicle, they can also be found on new vehicles.

Legend to the schemes

• X denotes a letter
• Xxx denotes one to three letters
• Xxxxx denotes one to five letters
• 9 denotes a digit
• 9oo denotes one to three digits
• (max. 8) means that the total number of letters and digits is a maximum of 8
• ua indicates that the country has multiple systems
• (ex) describes a former system, but in which such license plates can still be found on the road. Systems that have not been in use for a long time are not listed.

Numbers only

9oooo

Guernsey; Luxembourg (inter alia, ex)

A group of letters and numbers

Xx 9ooooo	including Switzerland; Portugal for trailers only; Austria only for authorities and dipl. services
XX 9oooo	including Liechtenstein
XX 999	Lithuania for trailers only
XX 9999	Latvia, Luxembourg; Denmark for trailers only; Norway only for trailers
XX 99999	Denmark; Norway; u. a. Poland
XXX 999	Belgium (ex); Finland; Hungary; Lithuania; Sweden, Malta
XXX 9999	Greece (only letters that also exist in the Greek alphabet ); Northern Ireland (a letter is always “I” or “Z”, also used in the Republic of Ireland until 1987); u. a. Poland
SBAA-99	Cyprus: Akrotiri and Dekelia (British)

One group of letters, several groups of numbers

This means that groups of digits are separated with a hyphen. The use of thousand points in Switzerland is not included here.

XX 99o-99o	Serbia (ex); Montenegro (ex) (distinguishable on the basis of the regional codes)
XX 99-99	Portugal (ex)

Letters, digits, letters group

Xx 9oooo Xxx (max. 7)	Austria (next to your preferred number with the sequence Xx Xxxxx9oooo (min. 4 max. 7); min. Xx and 3 characters, including 1 letter and 1 number)
X 9oo XXX	Great Britain (ex); with “B” in front and 2–3 digits: u. a. Romania (Bucharest)
XX 999 XX	Albania; Italy; Macedonia (ex); Serbia; Slovakia; u. a. Slovenia
Xx 999 Xx	France
XX 999o Xx (max. 7, except Zagreb = ZG 999o Xx)	Croatia
XX 9oooo X	Switzerland (only for special uses with certain final letters, at least in most cantons )
XX 9ooo X	Liechtenstein (only for special uses with certain final letters)
XX 9999 X	Albania (ex)
Xx 9999 Xx	Bulgaria (only letters that also occur in the Cyrillic alphabet )
XX 9999 XX	Ukraine (only letters that also occur in the Cyrillic alphabet ); Macedonia
XX 99 XX	Netherlands (ex except special uses)
Xx 9999 Xx	Spain (ex, until 2001)
XX 99 XXX	Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland); u. a. Romania; u. a. Slovenia
XXX 999 X	Great Britain (ex)
XXX 99 XX	including Poland

If there appear to be more than three letters at the end, including the first "I", it is probably the English spelling of the number "1".

Two groups of letters, one group of numbers

The two groups of letters are separated from each other in different ways.

XX-XX-99	including Netherlands
XXX-Xx99o (max. 7)	Poland
Xxx-Xx 9ooo (max. 8)	Germany
XX-XX 999	Montenegro (separation of the letter groups with coats of arms); u. a. Slovenia
Xx-XX 999	Moldova (first group always two letters or "C")
Xx-Xx 9ooo	Bulgaria (only for two-line signs); Spain (also, ex)
Xx Xxxxx9oooo (min. 4 max. 7)	Austria (desired license plate; separation of letter groups with coat of arms)

A group of numbers and letters

999 XXX	Belgium (ex), Estonia
9999 XX	Belarus (ex)
9999 XXX	Spain (from 2001)

Numbers, letters, digits

9XX - 9999	Czech Republic
9-XXX-99, 99-XXX-9	including Netherlands
9-XXX-999	Belgium
99-XX-99	including Portugal
99-Xx-9ooooo (max. 9)	Republic of Ireland
99 Xxx 9ooo	Turkey
999 X 999	Bosnia-Herzegovina (ex, only A, E, J, K, M or T)
999 KS 999	Kosovo (provisional)
99oo XXx 99 (max. 8)	France (ex)
9ooo XX 9	Belarus (only letters that also occur in the Cyrillic alphabet )

Two groups of digits, one group of letters

999-99 XX	Ukraine (ex)
99-99 XX	Portugal (ex)
99-999-XX	Kosovo

More than three groups

9X9 - 9999	including the Czech Republic
X99 - X - 999	Bosnia Herzegovina
different ones, starting with XX-	Slovenia
XX 9X999	including Poland (so far only in a few cities, e.g. in Poznań)
X9 Xxxxxoo (min. 5 max. 7)	Poland (custom license plate)
different ones starting with XXx	including Poland
X 999 XX 99o	Russia (see also above )

Other distinguishing features

In most cases, countries with the same scheme can be differentiated in other ways. The country code often appears somewhere, but in small letters. But there are also more noticeable specific ornaments or control marks, and the fonts also differ (but they often vary in the same country too!). Some countries deviate from the usual black letters on a white background.

The most noticeable distinguishing features are:

colour

The color of the letters or the background indicates special uses in many countries, but this is exactly where the scheme often deviates. For example, a vehicle with a red "LDK 062" is probably from Belgium if you find it far enough away from the German Lahn-Dill district , but in this district it can also designate an exhibition and demonstration vehicle (at least in principle; whether actually so short number plates are issued, is up to the decision of the district).

Use / have used red letters :

• Belgium
• Belarus for the old system

Use yellow background :

• Netherlands
• Luxembourg
• Great Britain for the rear shield (including Northern Ireland)
• France for the rear sign (no longer mandatory)
• Denmark for vehicles with reduced taxes

font

Most noticeable are the bold letters on British license plates (including Northern Ireland). The Norwegian font is less bold, but suitable for differentiating between Danish license plates.

A forgery-increasing font has been in use in Germany and Malta for several years. It is easy to recognize with some letters (e.g. "C"), but above all by the almost rectangular number "0". The script in Slovenia was temporarily (mid-2004 to mid-2008) similar, but there the grouping of letters and numbers is unique. In the case of Slovenia, the light green border of the license plate (black 2004 to 2008) is also noticeable.

size

Dimensions:

520 x 120 mm for Austria, Hungary, Croatia

520 x 110 mm for Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovakia, Spain, Czech Republic

Swiss, Liechtenstein and Italian license plates can only be recognized by the fact that they are very small on the front license plate .

Targeted differentiation of similar characteristics

Since joining the EU, the Hungarian license plates look almost like the Lithuanian ones. In contrast to the latter, however, they have a hyphen (as before) between the group of letters and numbers. On Swedish license plates there is a rectangular test sticker at this point (on the rear license plate).

The many markings with the system 1–2 letters - numbers - 1–2 letters on a white background bear the national coat of arms after the first group of letters in a number of countries . Deviations from this:

• Austria: Here it is not the Austrian coat of arms (except for federal authorities, which use a different scheme), but the coat of arms of the state .
• Bulgaria and Ukraine: no separation
• Spain (ex): separation with a central point
• France: separation with a central point, on the far right a blue stripe symmetrical to the Europe stripe on the left
• Italy: no separation, on the far right a blue stripe symmetrical to the left European stripe
• Macedonia: The plates have a red square block in which the Cyrillic equivalents to the Latin letters of the plate appear in small letters.

Timelines

See also

• Vehicle registration number, chapter Structure - Europe : Articles with detailed information per country are linked here.
• License plate with EU identification