British car number plates
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| Image:BritishNumberPlates CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg |
In the United Kingdom, all motor-powered road vehicles (including cars) have had to carry registration plates (more commonly known as number plates) since 1904.
The Motor Car Act 1903, which came into force on 1 January 1904, required all vehicles to be registered with the authorities, and to carry number plates. The act was passed in order that vehicles could be easily traced in the event of an accident or contravention of the law. Car plates are rectangular or square in shape, with the exact permitted dimensions of the plate and its lettering set down in law.
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Colour
Current plates have black characters on reflective white (for the front plate) or on reflective yellow (for the rear plate).
Older plates had white or silver characters in relief on a black background. This style of plate was phased out in 1972, and is now legal to be carried only on cars built prior to 1st January 1973.
Current system
The current system for Great Britain was introduced in 2001. There is another scheme for Northern Ireland. Each registration consists of seven characters. From left to right the characters consist of:
- An area code (the local memory tag) consisting of two letters, the first relating to the region, the second the local registration office. See British car number plate identifiers;
- A two-digit age identifier, which changes twice a year, in March and September. The code is either the last two digits of the year itself (e.g. "05" for 2005) or else has 50 (e.g. 55 for September 2005) added if it was issued in from September to February of the following year;
- An arbitrary three-letter sequence with no specific meaning beyond that of uniquely distinguishing each of the vehicles displaying the same initial four-character area and age sequence. The letters I and Q are excluded from the three-letter sequence, as are combinations that may appear offensive (including those in foreign languages).
With this scheme, a buyer can tell the year of a car without having to look it up, and the preceding area code letters are usually what is remembered by witnesses — it is then quite simple to narrow down suspect vehicles to a much smaller number by checking the authority's database without having to know the full number. This scheme should have sufficient numbers to run until 2050.
Registrations having a combination of characters that are particularly appealing (resembling a name, for example) are auctioned each year.
Vehicles registered under previous numbering systems continue to retain their original registration plates. Subject to certain conditions, registration plates can be transferred between vehicles by the vehicle owner; some of these transfers involve tens of thousands of British Pounds (GBP) changing hands, due to the desirability of a specific number.
History
Before 1932
The first series of number plates were issued in 1903 and ran until 1932, using the series A1–YY9999. The letter or pair of letters indicated the local area where the vehicle was registered, for example A – London, B – Lancashire, C – West Riding of Yorkshire, etc. In England and Wales the letter codes were initially allocated in order of population size (by the 1901 census), whilst Scotland and Ireland had special sequences incorporating the letters "S" and "I" respectively, which were allocated alphabetically: IA = Antrim, IB = Armagh, etc. When a licensing authority reached 9999, it was allocated another two letter mark, but there was no pattern to these subsequent allocations as they were allocated on a first come first served basis.
1932 to 1963
By 1932, the available numbers within this scheme were running out, and an extended scheme was introduced. This scheme consisted of three letters and three numbers, taken from the series AAA1 to YYY999. Note that certain letters — I, Q and Z — were never used, as they were considered too easy to mistake for other letters or numbers, or were reserved for special use, such as the use of I and Z for Irish registrations. (After independence, the Irish Republic continued to use this scheme until 1986, and Northern Ireland still uses it.)
The three-letter scheme preserved the area letter codes as the second pair of letters in the set of three, and the single letter area codes were deleted (since prefixing a single letter code would create a duplicate of a two-letter code). In some areas, the available numbers with this scheme started to run out in the 1950s, and in those areas, a reversed sequence was introduced, i.e. 1AAA–999YYY. The ever-increasing popularity of the car can be gauged by noting that these sequences ran out within ten years, and by the beginning of the 1960s, a further change was made in very popular areas, introducing 4-number sequences with the one and two letter area codes, but in the reverse direction to the early scheme (i.e. 1A –9999YY).
1960s to 1982
In 1963, numbers were running out once again, and an attempt was made to create a national scheme to alleviate the problem. The three letter, up to three number system was kept, but a letter suffix was added, which changed every year. In this scheme, numbers were drawn from the range AAA1A–YYY999A for the first year, then AAA1B–YYY999B for the second year, and so on. Some areas did not adopt the year letter for the first two years, sticking to their own schemes, but in 1965 adding the year letter was made compulsory.
As well as yielding many more available numbers, it was a handy way for car buyers to know the age of the vehicle immediately. At first the year letter changed on January 1st every year, but car retailers started to notice that car buyers would tend to wait towards the end of the year for the new letter to be issued, so that they could get a "newer" car. This led to major peaks and troughs in sales over the year, and to help flatten this out somewhat the industry lobbied to get the month of registration changed from January to August. This was done in 1967, a year that had two letter changes: "E" came in January, and "F" came in August. The month remained at August until 1999.
1983 to 2001
By 1982, the year suffixes had reached Y and so from 1983 onwards the sequence was reversed again, so that the year letter — starting again at "A" — preceded the numbers then the letters of the registration. The available range was then A1AAA–Y999YYY. Towards the mid-90s there was some discussion about introducing a unified scheme for Europe, which would also incorporate the country code of origin of the vehicle, but after much debate such a scheme was not adopted due to lack of countries willing to participate. The changes in 1983 also bought the letter Q into use. It was used on vehicles of indeterminate age, such as those assembled from kits, substantial rebuilds, or imported vehicles where the documentation is insufficient to determine the age. It was seen as an aid to consumer protection.
By the late 1990s, the range of available numbers was once again starting to run out, exacerbated by a move to biannual changes in registration letters (March and September) in 1999 to smooth out the bulge in registrations every August, so a new scheme needed to be adopted. Rather than stick with a variation of the ad-hoc numbering that had existed for nearly a century, it was decided to research a system that would be easier for crash or car crime witnesses to remember and clearer to read, yet still fit within a normal standard plate size. In addition, the car sales industry were finding August was becoming overly busy, and started to push for two changes per year. This change was brought in early, using the existing scheme, which helped to run the numbers out more quickly. The current system was introduced in 2001.
Year letters
Suffix series
Prefix series
New 2001> series
| Year | March | September |
| 2001 | -- | 51 |
| 2002 | 02 | 52 |
| 2003 | 03 | 53 |
| 2004 | 04 | 54 |
| 2005 | 05 | 55 |
| 2006 | 06 | 56 |
| 2007 | 07 | 57 |
| 2008 | 08 | 58 |
| 2009 | 09 | 59 |
| 2010 | 10 | 60 |
| 2011 | 11 | 61 |
| 2012 | 12 | 62 |
| 2013 | 13 | 63 |
| 2014 | 14 | 64 |
| 2015 | 15 | 65 |
| 2016 | 16 | 66 |
| 2017 | 17 | 67 |
| 2018 | 18 | 68 |
| 2019 | 19 | 69 |
| 2020 | 20 | 70 |
| 2021 | 21 | 71 |
| 2022 | 22 | 72 |
| 2023 | 23 | 73 |
| 2024 | 24 | 74 |
| 2025 | 25 | 75 |
| 2026 | 26 | 76 |
| 2027 | 27 | 77 |
| 2028 | 28 | 78 |
| 2029 | 29 | 79 |
| 2030 | 30 | 80 |
| 2031 | 31 | 81 |
| 2032 | 32 | 82 |
| 2033 | 33 | 83 |
| 2034 | 34 | 84 |
| 2035 | 35 | 85 |
| 2036 | 36 | 86 |
| 2037 | 37 | 87 |
| 2038 | 38 | 88 |
| 2039 | 39 | 89 |
| 2040 | 40 | 90 |
| 2041 | 41 | 91 |
| 2042 | 42 | 92 |
| 2043 | 43 | 93 |
| 2044 | 44 | 94 |
| 2045 | 45 | 95 |
| 2046 | 46 | 96 |
| 2047 | 47 | 97 |
| 2048 | 48 | 98 |
| 2049 | 49 | 99 |
Personalised Registrations
It is still legal to use any of the above schemes for vanity plates – any registration with 2-3 consecutive valid letters and a number 1-999 (and possibly another letter) is allowed. As many cars registered before 1963 have been destroyed, these "dateless" plates are usually highly sought-after and valuable, since they can be used to "hide" the age of a newer vehicle. However, some consider it a great pity that many classic cars now lose their original plates due to this.
Northern Ireland
A separate system remains in use in Northern Ireland. Current registrations plates take the form "ABC 1000", where "BC" represents the county or city and "A" denotes the position in the series. The numbering begins at 1000 and ends at 9999. After 9999, the next letter in alphabetical order is used at position "A" and the numbering series begins with 1000 once again. For example, in 2005 County Antrim is using the series "KZ", having already completed "IA" and "DZ". After "KZ" is exhausted, it will use "RZ". The full list of county codes appears below.
The county letters without the series position identifier were used previously on their own, in the same order that they are now being used. After all these registrations had been issued, the extra letter was added to increase capacity. Previously, it was also possible to have a number below 1000.
This system was also used in the Republic of Ireland until 1987 as part of an original British all-Ireland system. It was similar to an older system used in Great Britain, but the use of the letters I and Z is unique to Ireland. In this system, two-letter county codes existed for all counties or administrative areas in Ireland, but are now used only in Northern Ireland. The Republic has since introduced new codes, the code "ZZ" continues to be used in the Republic for temporary imports and is administered by the Automobile Association of Ireland, see Irish Vehicle Registration Plates.
The DVLNI are considering adopting the new system used in the rest of the UK, using I as the first letter (no confusion could be made with 1 as it would be followed by another letter).
Northern Ireland licence plates are used often in Great Britain as vanity plates.
County codes
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Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have number plates that differ from those used in the UK.
Jersey
Jersey number plates consist of the letter 'J' followed by one to six digits, with hire cars originally having a letter 'H' in white on a red background. Plates now incorporate the coat of arms of Jersey. Low digit value number plates are considered more desirable - numberplates 'J1' and 'J2' are carried by government official vehicles.
A standard Jersey plate
| J67543 |
A hire Jersey plate
| H | J12345 |
Vanity plates are also auctioned, having the format 'JSY' followed by one to three digits.
Guernsey
Guernsey plates consist of five digits, sometimes in white on a black background, and with a circle containing the letters 'GBG', the Island's international vehicle registration.
A Guernsey plate (the GBG is meant to be a circle and the print a shade smaller)
| 12345 (GBG) |
Guernsey hire cars sport a black 'H' on a yellow background on a separate plate, much like the 'L plate' required by learners. Locals consider this to stand for "Horror", as foreign drivers often lack understanding of road features such as 'filter in turn' sections common to Guernsey roads.
Alderney
In Alderney, a dependency of Guernsey, separate registrations are issued, of the format 'AY' and three digits.
An Alderney plate
| AY123 |
Sark
Sark bans cars on its roads, so no number plates exist.
Isle of Man
Image:ManxCarRegistrationPlate.jpg The Isle of Man originally had the letters 'MAN' followed by four digits, but this was changed to three letters (the second and third of which being 'MN') followed by three digits and a letter, as illustrated below. Plates now incorporate the Manx flag, bearing the triskellion symbol. The typeface now used on Manx number plates is similar to that used in the Republic of Ireland.
A Manx plate (without the words Isle of Man at the top)
| Image:Flag of the Isle of Man.svg GBM | DMN-123-A |
Overseas Territories
Some of the UK's overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, use similar number plates to the UK, with the same colours and typeface.
Until 2002 Gibraltar number plates consisted of the letter 'G' and five digits, but this changed to 'G' followed by four digits and a letter. The European flag is also now featured, along with the international vehicle registration GBZ. Military vehicles have the letters 'RN'.
In the Falklands, the format is 'F' followed by four digits and a letter.
British Forces plates
British forces number plates are white on black. In West Germany, private cars owned by members of HM Forces and their families, also used plates with the same format, distinct from those used in the UK. This was discontinued in 1988 for security reasons, as it made them vulnerable to IRA attacks. Private cars driven by British military personnel are now issued with either standard UK number plates (if right hand drive) or German ones (if left hand drive).
Diplomatic plates
Since 1979 cars operated by foreign embassies, consular staff, and various international organisations have been given plates with a distinguishing format of three numbers, one letter, three numbers. The letter is D for diplomats or X for accredited non-diplomatic staff. The first group of three numbers identifies the country or organisation to whom the plate has been issued, the second group of three numbers is a serial number, starting at 101 for diplomats (although some embassies were erroneously issued 100), 400 for non-diplomatic staff of international organisations, and 700 for consular staff. Thus, for example, 101 D 101 identifies the first plate allocated to the Afghanistan embassy, 900 X 400 is the first plate allocated to the Commonwealth Secretariat. See List of country codes on British diplomatic car number plates.
See also
- license plate
- British car number plate identifiers
- Automatic number plate recognition
- Vehicle Excise Duty
- Mass surveillance
- UK topics