Car Number Plates


Car Number Plates (UK)

  • Car Number Plates (UK)

  • Introduction

    In September 2001, the UK's vehicle licencing executive agency, the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency) changed the number plate format that had been in place since August 1983.

    The new system abandoned car registrations starting with a simple letter, and at the same time standardising colour, typeface and logo inclusion.

  • DVLA Standardisation

    Since 1983, UK road vehicles were assigned a letter, denoting the year it was registered in eg "A" was August 1983 to July 1984, "B" was August 1984 to July 1985 etc. In March 1999, new registrations became bi-annual, with registrations changing on March 1st and September 1st.

    However, there are only so many letters in the alphabet, and so the DVLA had to come up with a new system before reaching "Z". The solution was to introduce registrations that denote the region in which the car was registered, followed by the month and year, followed by 3 letters to allow multiple permutations.

  • The System Introduced In March 1999

    The system used follows an alpha-numeric system. For example, a new plate which starts "MA" is registered in the Manchester area, while "CX" is registered in Wales, "LM" is registered in the London area.

    The numbers denote the month and year, for example "02" is March 2002, and "52" is September 2002.

    Following the "0" and "5" coding, the system will be moving to "1" and "6" for March and September respectively, with the second digit being the final digit of the year, for example, "2" could be 2002, 2012, 2022 etc.

    Here is an example of a current UK numberplate:

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    The first two letters, in this case "EK", denote the region in which the vehicle is registered (known as the "Local Memory Tag"). Here, the "E" stands for Essex.

    The two numbers denote the month and year in which the car was registered. The "0" stands for March, and the "2" stands the year 2002.

    The three letters are random, and allow for many permutations of registration plate starting with "EK02", and do not denote any locality.

  • National Flags And Livery

    The "GB" lettering, with the EU flag, is optional on registrations, and replaces the oval, self-adhesive sticker seen on cars in the past. Additionally, versions exist showing the Union Flag, Cross of St George, Red Dragon of Wales or the Scottish Saltire. Some reg plates in the past have displayed football team livery, although this is no longer permitted.