License plate (Soviet Union)
Before 1959, Soviet license plates were yellow with black writing. The sign began with two small superscript Cyrillic letters that identified the origin of the vehicle. Two pairs of numbers followed.
In 1958 a new identification system was introduced in the Soviet Union. The signs showed white letters on a black background and began with two pairs of numbers separated by a hyphen. This was followed by three reduced Cyrillic letters, the first two of which indicated the origin of the vehicle. Marks for test drives and test drives showed the word ПРОБА (German sample ) after the pairs of numbers .
In 1980 the license plates were modernized and extended. The colors were swapped; there was now black writing on a white background. In the case of private motor vehicles, the previously last distinguishing letter now appeared first, followed by four numbers and the region code. License plates for state vehicles retained the structure of the old plates according to the pattern 1234 AБГ, but without a hyphen between the pairs of numbers and with large instead of small Cyrillic letters.
In the case of trucks, buses, larger trailers and the like, the content of the license plate on the rear of the vehicle also had to be applied in color in large letters (the size was regulated by a corresponding standard) in order to ensure good legibility even in adverse conditions. For vehicles of government organizations, special abbreviations were used regardless of the place of registration. Armed Forces vehicles had black license plates with two pairs of numbers and two Cyrillic letters. Foreigners living in the Soviet Union had a yellow license plate. It showed the letter H followed by six digits in black .
Diplomatic license plates showed the Latin letter D and a combination of digits, the first digits encoding the country.
The symbol of nationality of the Soviet Union was SU .
Overview
1980-1991
| sign | Scheme | use |
|---|---|---|
|
A 1234 БГ | Private vehicles |
|
1234 АБГ | Authority registration number |
|
1234 / АБГ | Truck, bus, motorcycle |
|
1234 / АБ | pendant |
|
1234 / АБ | Special vehicles |
|
АБ / 1234 | Special vehicles trailers |
|
P 123 456 | export |
|
H 123 456 | Foreigners |
|
D 123 456 | Diplomatic plates |
1958-1980
| sign | Scheme | use |
|---|---|---|
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|
12-34 АБГ | single line |
|
12-34 / АБГ | two lines |
|
12-34 / АБ ПРИЦЕП | pendant |
|
D -12-345 | Diplomatic plates |
1946-1959
| sign | Scheme | use |
|---|---|---|
|
АБ 12-34 | single line |
|
АБ / 12-34 | two lines |
|
АБ ПРИЦЕП / 12-34 | pendant |
Military license plate
| sign | Scheme | use |
|---|---|---|
|
12-34 АБ | single line |
|
12-34 / АБ | two lines |
Successor states
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the system was initially retained for some time in many of the successor states. Gradually, however, new more or less different labeling systems were introduced in all countries, which as a rule no longer contain any Cyrillic letters. Parallels can be seen particularly in the colors of the various systems. Yellow plates are usually given to foreigners, red to diplomats. The armed forces usually use black license plates. In addition to the systems of the 15 successor states, other partly autonomous areas have their own license plates.
| country | abbreviation | Photo / special features | Introduced |
|---|---|---|---|
 Armenia
|
POOR |
 
|
since 1996, mod. 2014 |
 Azerbaijan
|
AZ |  |
since 1993, mod. 2011 |
 Estonia
|
EST |  |
since 1991, mod. 2004 |
 Georgia
|
GE |
 .jpg){kind=small}
|
since 1993, mod. 2010 since 09/2014 |
 Kazakhstan
|
concentration camp |
 
|
1994–2012 since 08/2012 |
 Kyrgyzstan
|
KGZ |
 
|
since 199x since 06/2016 |
 Latvia
|
LV |  |
since 1993, mod. 2004 |
 Lithuania
|
LT |  |
since 1992, mod. 2004 |
 Moldova
|
MD |
 
|
since 1992, mod. 1993/94 and 2011, since 2015 |
 Russia
|
RUS |  |
since 1993/94 |
 Tajikistan
|
TJ |
  
|
since 1996, mod. 2010, mod. 2014 |
 Turkmenistan
|
TM |  |
since 1994 |
 Ukraine
|
UA |
   
|
until 1995 1995–2004 2004–2015 since 2015 |
 Uzbekistan
|
UZ |
 
|
since 1996, mod. 2008 |
 Belarus
|
BY |
 
|
since 1992, mod. 1996 since 2004 |
other areas
| country | abbreviation | Photo / special features | Introduced |
|---|---|---|---|
 Abkhazia to Georgia |
GE |  |
since 199x |
 South Ossetia to Georgia |
GE |
 
|
since 199x |
.svg){kind=small} Transnistria to the Republic of Moldova |
MD |  |
since 199x |
Abbreviation
The geographical names refer to the period before 1991 and are based on the Russian name. Abbreviations in italics were only used in the new system from 1980.
1 The Molodechno region was dissolved on January 20, 1960 and divided into the Grodno , Minsk and Vitebsk regions.
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of abbreviations on Platesmania ( Memento of the original from December 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Extensive picture archive of Soviet license plates
- Official documents for the design of the license plates
Albania | Andorra | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Denmark 2 | Germany ( list ) | Estonia | European Union | Finland | France 2 | Greece | Ireland | Iceland | Italy | Kazakhstan 1 | Croatia | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro | Netherlands 2 | North Macedonia | Norway | Austria | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia 1 | San Marino | Sweden | Switzerland | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain 2 | Czech Republic | Turkey 1 | Ukraine | Hungary | Vatican City | United Kingdom 2 | Belarus | Cyprus 3
Other or disputed areas:
Åland |
Faroe Islands |
Gibraltar |
Isle of Man |
Channel Islands Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey |
Kosovo |
Transnistria
Former states of the
German Democratic Republic |
Yugoslavia |
Czechoslovakia |
Soviet Union
1 Lies mostly in Asia . 2 Has additional areas outside of Europe. 3 Geographically located in Asia, but a member of the EU .
License plates of the states of:
Africa |
Asia |
North America |
South America |
Oceania
47 Asian member states of the United Nations :
Afghanistan •
Egypt 1 •
Armenia •
Azerbaijan •
Bahrain •
Bangladesh •
Bhutan •
Brunei •
People's Republic of China •
Georgia •
India •
Indonesia 2 •
Iraq •
Iran •
Israel •
Japan •
Yemen •
Jordan •
Cambodia •
Kazakhstan 3 •
Qatar •
Kyrgyzstan •
Kuwait •
Laos •
Lebanon •
Malaysia •
Maldives •
Mongolia •
Myanmar •
Nepal •
North Korea •
Oman •
East Timor •
Pakistan •
Philippines •
Russia 3 •
Saudi Arabia •
Singapore •
Sri Lanka •
South Korea •
Syria •
Tajikistan •
Thailand •
Turkmenistan •
Turkey 3 •
Uzbekistan •
United Arab Emirates •
Vietnam •
Cyprus 4
Dependent Areas
of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (British military bases in Cyprus) •
British Indian Ocean Territory ( British overseas territory ) •
Hong Kong ( SVZ the PRC) •
Macau (SVZ the PRC)
De facto independent territories:
Abkhazia •
Republic of China (Taiwan) •
Palestinian Autonomous Territories •
South Ossetia •
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
1 Lies mostly in Africa . 2 Is partly also in Oceania . 3 Is partly also in Europe . 4 Geographically located in Asia, but a member of the EU .
License plates of the states of:
Africa •
Europe •
North America •
South America •
Oceania