List of international vehicle registration codes

Example of the white oval plate or sticker; this one represents Switzerland

A 1960 Borgward Isabella showing the international vehicle code NL (Netherlands)

Estonian registration plate in EU standard format with international code EST

The country in which a motor vehicle's vehicle registration plate was issued is indicated by an international licence plate country code, formerly known as an International Registration Letter^[1] or International Circulation Mark,^[2] displayed in bold block uppercase on a small white oval plate or sticker near the number plate on the rear of a vehicle.

This is different from the way vehicles belonging to the diplomats of foreign countries with license plate from the host country are marked. That standard is host country specific and varies largely from country to country. For example TR on a diplomatic car in US indicates Italian, not Turkish. Such markings in Norway are indicated with numbers only, again different from international standards (90 means Slovakian -not Turkish as international telephone codes would mean-).

The allocation of codes is maintained by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe as the Distinguishing Signs Used on Vehicles in International Traffic^[3] (sometimes abbreviated to DSIT), authorised by the UN's Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 1949 and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968. Many vehicle codes created since the adoption of ISO 3166 coincide with ISO two- or three-letter codes.

The 2004 South-East Asian Agreement ... for the Facilitation of Cross-Border Transport of Goods and People uses a mixture of ISO and DSIT codes: Myanmar uses MYA, China CHN, and Cambodia KH (ISO codes), Thailand uses T (DSIT code), Laos LAO, and Vietnam VN (coincident ISO and DSIT codes).^[4]

In the European Economic Area, vehicles from one member state do not need to display the oval while within another state, provided the number plate is in the common EU standard format introduced in the 1990s, which includes the international vehicle registration code on the plate.^[5]

Current codes

Note: an asterisk (*) indicates that this code is unofficial (does not appear in the UN list of distinguishing codes).

Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
A	Austria	1910
AFG	Afghanistan	1971
AG*	Antigua and Barbuda
AL	Albania	1934
AM	Armenia	1992	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
AND	Andorra	1957
ANG*	Angola	1975	PAN: 1932–1957, P: 1957–1975	Formerly a territory of Portugal
ARK*	Antarctica
AS*	Asturias			Territory of the Kingdom of Spain, E is the official code.
AUA*, ARU*	Aruba		NA	Formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles
AUS	Australia	1954
AX*	Åland Islands	2002	SF	Territory of Finland. FIN is the official code.
AXA*	Anguilla
AZ	Azerbaijan	1993	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
B	Belgium	1910
BD	Bangladesh	1978	PAK	Formerly East Pakistan
BDS	Barbados	1956
BF	Burkina Faso	1990	RHV / HV	until August 2003, 1984; (République (de)) Haute Volta (Upper Volta)
BG	Bulgaria	1910
BH	Belize	1938		former British Honduras. Uses BZ unofficially since 1980, although still officially registered as BH as of 2007.
BHT*	Bhutan
BIH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1993	YU	Bosna i Hercegovina
BOL	Bolivia	1967
BR	Brazil	1930
BRN	Bahrain	1954
BRU	Brunei	1956
BS	Bahamas	1950
BUR	Myanmar	1956	BA	Also known as Burma.
BVI	British Virgin Islands
BW	Botswana	2003	BP	unofficially for Botswana. Officially RB for Republic of Botswana. Formerly Bechuanaland Protectorate
BY	Belarus	1992 (2004)	SU	Byelorussia; formerly part of the Soviet Union. The UN was officially notified of the change from SU to BY only in 2004.[6]
BZ*	Belize	1980		former British Honduras. Still officially registered as BH (as of 2007).
C	Cuba	1930
CAM	Cameroon	1952	F & WAN	Formerly a territory of France
CDN	Canada	1956	CA
CH	Switzerland	1911		Confœderatio Helvetica (Latin)
CI	Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	1961	F	Formerly a territory of France
CL	Sri Lanka	1961		Formerly Ceylon
CHN*	People's Republic of China[7]		[8]
CO	Colombia	1952
COM*	Comoros		F	Formerly a territory of France
CR	Costa Rica	1956
CV*	Cape Verde	1975	P	Formerly a territory of Portugal
CY	Cyprus	1932
CYM*	Wales			Part of the United Kingdom, CYM from Cymru (Wales), GB is the official code.
CZ	Czech Republic	1993	CS	Formerly Československo (Czechoslovakia)
D	Germany	1909		Deutschland (German); also used until 1974 by  East Germany, which then used DDR until German reunification in 1990
DJI*	Djibouti		F	Formerly a territory of France
DK	Denmark	1914
DOM	Dominican Republic	1952
DY	Benin	1910	Part of AOF (Afrique occidentale française) − 1960	Dahomey (name until 1975)
DZ	Algeria	1962	F − 1911	Djazayer (Algerian Arabic); Formerly part of France
E	Spain	1910		España (Spanish)
EAK	Kenya	1938		East Africa Kenya
EAT	Tanzania	1938	EAT & EAZ	East Africa Tanzania; formerly East Africa Tanganyika and East Africa Zanzibar
EAU	Uganda	1938		East Africa Uganda
EAZ	Zanzibar			East Africa Zanzibar
EC	Ecuador	1962
EIR	Ireland	1938	GB − 1910, SE − 1924, IRL − 1962	Éire or Republic of Ireland. Formerly Great Britain, Saorstát Éireann. Currently there is a campaign underway by Irish language activists to have the name of the country in the native language represented by changing the code back to EIR or ÉIR, but this is unnecessary, as Statutory Instrument No. 269 of 1961 provides: " ... the letters EIR are used to indicate the name of the State but the letters IRL may be substituted therefor."
ENG*	England			Part of the United Kingdom, GB is the official code.
ER	Eritrea	1993	AOI	Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian)
ES	El Salvador	1978
EST	Estonia	1993	EW 1919–1940 & 1991–1993; SU 1940–1991	Eesti Vabariik (Estonian); formerly part of the Soviet Union
ET	Egypt	1927
ETH	Ethiopia	1964	Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian), Ethiopia	Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian)
F	France	1910
FIN	Finland	1993	SF	Suomi Finland (Finnish/Swedish)
FJI	Fiji	1971
FL	Liechtenstein	1923		Fürstentum Liechtenstein (German)
FO	Faroe Islands	1996		Føroyar. Sometimes FØ or Fø
FSM*	Federated States of Micronesia
G	Gabon	1974	ALEF − 1960	Afrique Équatoriale Française
GB	United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) GB is the official code.	1910		Before 1922 it was used for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
GBA	Alderney	1924		Great Britain – Alderney
GBG	Guernsey	1924		Great Britain – Guernsey
GBJ	Jersey	1924		Great Britain – Jersey
GBM	Isle of Man	1932		Great Britain – Isle of Man
GBZ	Gibraltar	1924		Great Britain – Gibraltar [Z was assigned because G was already used for Guernsey]
GCA	Guatemala	1956		Guatemala, Central America
GE	Georgia	1992	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union. Older licence plates use "GEO" instead of "GE".
GH	Ghana	1959	WAC − 1957	West Africa Gold Coast − 1957
GQ*	Equatorial Guinea		E	Formerly a territory of Spain – Spanish Guinea − 1968
GR	Greece	1913
GUY	Guyana	1972	BRG	Formerly British Guiana − 1966
GW*, RGB*	Guinea-Bissau	1974	P	Portuguese Guinea – 1974. República da Guiné-Bissau
H	Hungary	1910
HK*	Hong Kong	1932
HKJ	Jordan	1966	JOR	Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
HN*	Honduras
HR	Croatia	1992	SHS 1919–29, Y 1929–53, YU 1953–92	Hrvatska (Croatian). Formerly part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca – Croatian), then part of Yugoslavia. In the period immediately following Croatia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it was common to see unofficial oval stickers with the letters "CRO" sold across Croatia. Despite the initial anticipation that Croatia's international vehicle registration code would be "CRO", Croatia officially opted for the 2-letter "HR" (Hrvatska) code instead.
I	Italy	1919
IL	Israel	1952
IND	India	1947
IR	Iran	1936
IRL	Ireland	1962	GB − 1910, SE − 1924, EIR − 1938	Formerly Great Britain, Saorstát Éireann, Éire. Currently there is a campaign underway by Irish Language activists to have the name of the country in the native language represented by changing the code back to EIR or ÉIR. This is unnecessary, as Statutory Instrument No. 269 of 1961 provides: " ... the letters EIR are used to indicate the name of the State but the letters IRL may be substituted therefor."
IRQ	Iraq	1930
IS	Iceland	1936		Ísland (Icelandic)
J	Japan	1964
JA	Jamaica	1932
K	Cambodia	1956	F − 1949	Known as Kampuchea 1976–89. Formerly a territory of France.
KAN*	Saint Kitts and Nevis
KIR*	Kiribati
KN*	Greenland		GRO	Kalaallit Nunaat
KP*	Democratic People's Republic of Korea
KS	Kyrgyzstan	1992	SU − 1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union. However, most vehicles use "KGZ" instead of "KS".
KSA	Saudi Arabia	1973	SA	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
KWT	Kuwait	1954
KZ	Kazakhstan	1992	SU − 1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
L	Luxembourg	1911
LAO	Laos	1959	F – 1949	Formerly a territory of France (French Indochina)
LAR	Libya	1972	I − 1949, LT	Libyan Arab Republic; Formerly a territory of Italy
LB	Liberia	1967
LS	Lesotho	1967	BL	Basutoland − 1966
LT	Lithuania	1992	SU 1940–1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
LV	Latvia	1992	LR 1927–1940, SU 1940–1991	Latvijas Republika (Latvian); Formerly part of the Soviet Union
M	Malta	1966	GBY 1924–66
MA	Morocco	1924		Maroc (French)
MAL	Malaysia	1967	PRK – 1957, FM 1954-7, PTM 1957–67	formerly Perak, then Federated Malay States, then Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malay)
MC	Monaco	1910
MD	Moldova	1992	SU − 1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
MEX	Mexico	1952
MGL	Mongolia	1997
MH*	Marshall Islands
MK	Macedonia	1992	YU − 1992	Formerly part of Yugoslavia
MNE	Montenegro	2006	MN – 1913–1919, SHS 1919–29, Y 1929–53, YU 1953–2003, SCG 2003–2006	Formerly part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca – Serbo-Croatian), then part of Yugoslavia and then Serbia and Montenegro (Srbija i Crna Gora – Serbian)
MO*	Macau	1930s?		former Portuguese overseas province
MOC	Mozambique	1975	MOC: 1932–56, P: 1957–75	Formerly part of Portugal. Moçambique (Portuguese)
MS	Mauritius	1938
MV*	Maldives
MW	Malawi	1965	EA 1932–38, NP – 1938–70, RNY option 1960–65	Formerly the Nyasaland Protectorate
N	Norway	1922
NA	Netherlands Antilles	1957
NAM	Namibia	1990	SWA	Formerly South West Africa
NAU	Nauru	1968
NC*	New Caledonia
NEP	Nepal	1970
NI*	Northern Ireland			Part of the United Kingdom, GB is the official code.
NIC	Nicaragua	1952
NL	Netherlands	1910
NZ	New Zealand	1958
OM*	Oman
P	Portugal	1910
PA	Panama	1952
PAL*	Palau
PE	Peru	1937
PK	Pakistan	1947?
PL	Poland	1921
PMR*	Transnistria	1990	SU − 1991, MD 1991	Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic – officially part of  Moldova. Formerly part of the Soviet Union.
PNG	Papua New Guinea	1978
PR*	Puerto Rico
PS*	Palestine
PY	Paraguay	1952
Q	Qatar	1972
RA	Argentina	1927		República Argentina (Spanish)
RB	Botswana	1966	BP	Republic of Botswana. Unofficially uses BW. Formerly Bechuanaland Protectorate
RC	Republic of China (Taiwan)	1932
RCA	Central African Republic	1962		République Centrafricaine (French)
RCB	Republic of the Congo	1962		République du Congo Brazzaville (French)
RCH	Chile	1930		República de Chile (Spanish)
RG	Guinea	1972		République de Guinée (French)
RH	Haiti	1952		République d'Haïti (French)
RI	Indonesia	1955		Republik Indonesia (Indonesian)
RIM	Mauritania	1964		République islamique de Mauritanie (French)
RKS*	Kosovo	2010	YU; KS 1999–2010; RKS 2010	Serbia claims Kosovo as part of its territory.
RL	Lebanon	1952		République Libanaise (French)
RM	Madagascar	1962		République de Madagascar (French)
RMM	Mali	1962	AOF − 1960	République du Mali (French). Formerly part of French West Africa (Afrique Occidentale Française)
RN	Niger	1977	AOF − 1960	République du Niger (French). Formerly part of French West Africa (Afrique Occidentale Française)
RO	Romania	1981	R
ROK	Republic of Korea	1971
RP	Philippines	1975		Republic of the Philippines
RSM	San Marino	1932		Repubblica di San Marino (Italian)
RU	Burundi	1962?		Belgian territory of Ruanda-Urundi
RUS	Russia	1992	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
RWA	Rwanda	1964	RU − 1962	Formerly part of Ruanda-Urundi − 1962
S	Sweden	1911
SCO*	Scotland			Part of the United Kingdom, GB is the official code.
SCV*	Vatican City			The official code is V.
SD	Swaziland	1935
SGP	Singapore	1952
SK	Slovakia	1993	CS 1919–39,1945–92, SQ 1939–45	Formerly Československo (Czechoslovakia)
SLE*	Sierra Leone	2002		officially WAL; SLE is only used on local licence plates, written below the national flag
SLO	Slovenia	1992	SHS 1919–29, Y 1929–53, YU 1953–92	Formerly part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, then part of Yugoslavia
SME	Suriname	1936
SMOM*	Sovereign Military Order of Malta
SN	Senegal	1962
SO	Somalia	1974
SOL*	Solomon Islands
SRB	Serbia	2006	SB – 1919, SHS 1919–29, Y 1929–53, YU 1953–2003, SCG 2003–2006	Formerly part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca – Serbo-Croatian), then part of Yugoslavia and then Serbia and Montenegro (Srbija i Crna Gora – Serbian)
STP*	São Tomé and Príncipe	1975	P	Formerly a territory of Portugal
SUD	Sudan	1963
SY	Seychelles	1938
SYR	Syria	1952
T	Thailand	1955
TCH, TD	Chad	1973		Tchad (French)
TG	Togo	1973
TJ	Tajikistan	1992	SU − 1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
TL*	Timor-Leste		P, RI	Formerly a territory of Portugal, then part of Indonesia
TM	Turkmenistan	1992	SU − 1991	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
TN	Tunisia	1957	F − 1956	Formerly a territory of France
TO*	Tonga
TR	Turkey	1935
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	1964
TUV*	Tuvalu
UA	Ukraine	1992	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
UAE	United Arab Emirates
USA	United States	1952
UY	Uruguay	2012	ROU
UZ	Uzbekistan	1992	SU	Formerly part of the Soviet Union
V	Vatican City	1931		On the Pope's vehicles and on local licence plates SCV (Stato della Città del Vaticano) is used.
VN	Vietnam	1953
VU*	Vanuatu
WAG	Gambia	1932		West Africa Gambia
WAL	Sierra Leone	1937		West Africa Sierra Leone; on local licence plates SLE is used
WAN	Nigeria	1937		West Africa Nigeria
WD	Dominica	1954		Windward Islands Dominica
WG	Grenada	1932		Windward Islands Grenada
WL	Saint Lucia	1932		Windward Islands Saint Lucia
WS	Samoa	1962		formerly Western Samoa
WSA*	Western Sahara	1932	SH − 1976	formerly Sahara Español (Spanish); now mostly occupied by Morocco, with some territory administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
WV	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1932		Windward Islands Saint Vincent
YAR	Yemen			North Yemen formerly known as the Yemen Arab Republic
YV	Venezuela	1955		the same code is used for aircraft
Z	Zambia	1964	NR	formerly Northern Rhodesia
ZA	South Africa	1936		Zuid-Afrika (from Dutch; in Afrikaans it is Suid-Afrika[9])
ZRE	Democratic Republic of the Congo	1971?	CB, RCL, CGO, ZR	Congo Belge (French), République de Congo Léopoldville (French), Congo (Kinshasa), Zaïre
ZW	Zimbabwe	1980	SR, RSR	formerly Southern Rhodesia until 1965, Rhodesia unrecognised until 1980

Codes no longer in use

Code	Country	Until	After	Notes
ADN	Aden	1980	Y	From 1938. a.k.a. South Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1967)
BA	Myanmar	1956	BUR	From 1937.
BP	Bechuanaland Protectorate	1966		Now Botswana
CS	Czechoslovakia	1992	CZ / SK	Split into Czech Republic and Slovakia.
DA	Danzig, Free City of	1939	D (1939–1945) PL (since 1945)	Danzig (German for Gdańsk)
DDR	German Democratic Republic	1990	D	From 1974 (used D until 1974), Deutsche Demokratische Republik
GBY	Malta	1966	M	Changed after Independence from UK
EW	Estonia	1993	EST	Eesti Vabariik (Estonian)
FR	Faroe Islands	1996	FO	Føroyar (Faroese)
GRO	Greenland		KN	Grønland (Danish language) / Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenlandic language)
HV	Haute Volta, now Burkina Faso	1984	BF	Upper Volta
LR	Latvia	1927–1940	SU, LV	Latvijas Republika (Latvian)
R	Romania	1981	RO
RNY	Rhodesia-Nyasaland Fed.	1953–1963	NP, NR, SR	Now Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe
ROU	Uruguay	1979–2012	UY	República Oriental del Uruguay (Spanish)
RSR	Southern Rhodesia	1965–1979	SR	Now Zimbabwe
RT	Togo	1973	TG	République togolaise (French). Formerly French Togoland − 1960
SA	Saar Territory (League of Nations mandate)	1926–1935	D	SA is again Germany's Saarland
SA	Saar Protectorate	1947–1956	D	SA is again Germany's Saarland
SB	Serbia	1919	SHS	Serbia became part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
SCG	Serbia and Montenegro	2006	MNE, SRB	From Serbian name "Srbija i Crna Gora". Now Montenegro, Serbia
SF	Finland	1993	FIN	SF from "Suomi – Finland" (the names of the country in its official languages, Finnish and Swedish)
SHS	Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes	1929	Y	Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca – Serbo-Croatian. Kingdom changed its name to Yugoslavia
SU	Soviet Union	1991	EST, LT, LV, BY, MD, UA, TJ, TUR, GE, KZ, UZ, KS, AZ, AM, RUS
SWA	South West Africa	1990		now Namibia
TS	Free Territory of Trieste	1947–1954		Territory A Zone. Now part of Italy
Y	Yugoslavia	1953	YU	Yemen started using Y afterwards
YU	Yugoslavia	2003	BIH, HR, RKS, MK, MNE, SRB, SLO	Now Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia

See also

• Aircraft registration
• International Driving Permit
• ISO 3166

Notes

Note

There are unofficial codes in common use, such as "BZH" for Brittany, "VL" for Flanders, "V" for Vojvodina/Vajdaság and "CD" for "Corps Diplomatique".

References

Further reading

• "RPW": Neil Parker and John Weeks, Registration Plates of the World, Europlate; 4th edition (2004)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International vehicle registration codes.

• UN Economic Commission for Europe, Working Party on Road Transport (WP.11)
• Miscellaneous Proposals of Amendments to the Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods: Identification of Approval Country in Marking, UN/SCETDG/33/INF.5 (table compares ISO 3166 and DSIT codes)
• Association Francoplaque: Collectionneurs de Plaques d'Immatriculation (data mostly from RPW, above)
• European Registration Plate Association: Registration Plates of the World Online (registration required; data mostly from RPW, above)