Vehicle registration plates of Brazil

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. Vanity plates are allowed as long as they abide to the same standard as non-vanity plates.

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 license plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standardization also determines a unique typeface: Mandatory. Plates in Japanese or European size can no longer be used as of January 1, 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 (autoescola in Portuguese)
• 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: manufacturer plates for vehicles under testing, 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: diplomatic use (in this case in the format CD 1234 or CC 1234) or newer licenses like EMB 1234)

The letters on the license plate 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: