Vehicle registration plates of Brazil
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Brazilian vehicle number plates are issued by the states. Each state has a Departamento de Trânsito (DETRAN) that is charged with vehicle registration and car tax collection, but plates are standardized across the country and form a national vehicle registration database.
The current system was created in 1990 and was named Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores (RENAVAM). It uses the form "LLL·NNNN", where LLL is a three-letter combination followed by a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle stays with it "for life" - it cannot be changed or transferred to another vehicle.
Above the combination is a metallic band with the State abbreviation (SP = São Paulo, RJ = Rio de Janeiro, PR = Paraná, AM = Amazonas etc.) and the name of the municipality in which the vehicle is currently registered. This band has to be changed when a vehicle needs to be registered in a different municipality. Rear number plates are bound to the vehicle by a plastic seal. Broken seals invalidate the number plate, which has to be re-sealed by the authorities. Seals need to be broken in order to change State/Municipality tags.
The size of the Brazilian licence plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standartization also determines a unique typeface: Mandatory. Plates in Japanese or European size can no longer be used as of January 1st, 2008.
Brazilian license plates use colour schemes to show their type, and front and rear plates use the same colours:
- black on grey: privately-owned vehicles
- white on red: any kind of paid transportation (buses, taxis etc.)
- red on white: driving school (auto-escola in Brazil)
- black on white: official use (government-owned cars: police departments, fire departments, federal, state or city public services)
- gray on black: collector's items (vehicles older than 30 years in excellent state of conservation and in original state - with more than 80% of its original components).
- white on green: dealer-testing, or in some cases test-drive (in most cases test-drive cars are registered to the dealership and thus use black on grey plates; privately-owned cars being tested after repairs usually carry dealer-fitted green plates over their black on grey plates)
- white on blue: manufacturer plates for vehicles under testing
- white on blue in the format LL.diplomatic use (in this case in the format CD 1234 or CC 1234)
The letters on the numberplate can describe the state where a vehicle was originally registered. Vehicles relocated from one state to another will show the new state/municipality on the replaceable tag, but it is always possible to determine the place of original registration for a used vehicle by observing the license plate range for each Brazilian State:
| Alphanumeric combination | State |
| AAA-0000 to BEZ-0000 | Paraná (PR) |
| BFA-0000 to GKI-0000 | São Paulo (SP) |
| GKI-0000 to HOL-0000 | Minas Gerais (MG) |
| HOL 0001 to HQE 9999 NHA 0001 to NHT 9999 |
Maranhão (MA) |
| HQF 0001 to HTW 9999 | Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) |
| HTX 0001 to HZA 9999 | Ceará (CE) |
| HZB 0001 to IAP 9999 | Sergipe (SE) |
| IAQ 0001 to JDO 9999 | Rio Grande do Sul (RS) |
| JDP 0001 to JKR 9999 | Distrito Federal (DF) |
| JKS 0001 to JSZ 9999 | Bahia (BA) |
| JTA 0001 to JWE 9999 | Pará (PA) |
| JWF 0001 to JXY 9999 | Amazonas (AM) |
| JXZ 0001 to KAU 9999 NIY 0001 to NJC 9999 |
Mato Grosso (MT) |
| KAV 0001 to KFC 9999 NFC 0001 to NGZ 9999 NJD 0001 to NLU 9999 |
Goiás (GO) |
| KFD 0001 to KME 9999 | Pernambuco (PE) |
| KMF 0001 to LVE 9999 | Rio de Janeiro (RJ) |
| LVF 0001 to LWQ 9999 NHU 0001 to NIX 9999 |
Piauí (PI) |
| LWR 0001 to MMM 9999 | Santa Catarina (SC) |
| MMN 0001 to MOW 9999 | Paraíba (PB) |
| MOX 0001 to MTZ 9999 | Espírito Santo (ES) |
| MVL 0001 to MXG 9999 | Tocantins (TO) |
| MUA 0001 to MVK 9999 | Alagoas (AL) |
| MXH 0001 to MZM 9999 | Rio Grande do Norte (RN) |
| MZN 0001 to NAG 9999 | Acre (AC) |
| NAH 0001 to NBA 9999 | Roraima (RR) |
| NBB 0001 to NEH 9999 | Rondônia (RO) |
| NEI 0001 to NFB 9999 | Amapá (AP) |
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