Special Number Plates Issued in the UK and Crown Dependencies

  • Northern Ireland
  • Jersey
  • Guernsey
  • Alderney
  • Sark
  • Isle of Man
  • Diplomatic Plates
  • Q Plates
  • Special Reserved Marks

    Northern Ireland


    Marks issued by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVNLI).
    Format:

    SXX9999

    S = series, starting with a
    XX = administrative area
    99999 = sequence
    Areas:

    Code Region
    AZBelfast
    BZDown
    CZBelfast
    DZAntrim
    EZBelfast
    FZBelfast
    GZBelfast
    HZTyrone
    IAAntrim
    IBArmagh
    IGFermanagh
    IJDown
    ILFermanagh
    IWLondonderry
    JITyrone
    JZDown
    KZAntrim
    LZArmagh
    MZBelfast
    NZLondonderry
    OIBelfast
    OZBelfast
    PZBelfast
    RZAntrim
    SZDown
    TZBelfast
    UILondonderry
    UZBelfast
    VZTyrone
    WZBelfast
    XIBelfast
    XZArmagh
    YZLondonderry
    QNIRe-registration within Northern Ireland

    ZZ still used by Irish republic for temporary imports


    Jersey

    Residents Cars

    Format:

    J9999
    J = Jersey 9999 = Sequence

    Hire Cars

    Format:

    HJ9999
    H = Hire car + Jersey + sequence


    Guernsey

    Format:

    99999 (GBG) + black/yellow H sign for hire cars


    Alderney

    Format:

    AY999


    Sark

    Sark has no number plates, as cars are banned!


    Isle of Man

    Uses one of Reading area codes, may use new Memory Tag system from the UK in the future.

    Format:

    Was: MAN9999
    Now: XMN999X


    Diplomatic Plates in UK

    Format:

    999X999
    Where X= D for diplomat or X for accredited
    First 3 digits is country code, last 3 serial number starting at 100 or 101 for diplomats, 400 for staff of international organisations, 700 for consular staff

    Embassies / High Commisions:
    Code Represents
    101 Afghanistan
    102 Algeria
    103 Argentina
    104 - 108 Australia
    109 Austria
    110 Bahamas
    111 Bahrain
    112 Bangladesh
    113 Barbados
    114 Belgium
    115 Benin
    116 Bolivia
    117 Botswana
    118 - 122 Brazil
    123 Bulgaria
    124 Myanmar
    125 Burundi
    126 Cameroon
    127 - 131 Canada
    132 Central African Republic
    133 Chad
    134 Chile
    135 China
    136 Colombia
    137 Congo
    138 Costa Rica
    139 Cuba
    140 Cyprus
    141 Czech Republic
    142 Denmark
    143 Dominican Republic
    144 Ecuador
    145 - 147 Egypt
    148 El Salvador
    149 Ethiopia
    150 Fiji
    151 Finland
    152 - 156 France
    157 Gabon
    158 Gambia
    159 - 163 Germany
    164 former German Democratic Republic
    165 Ghana
    166 - 167 Greece
    168 Grenada
    169 Guinea
    170 Guyana
    171 Haiti
    172 Honduras
    173 Hungary
    174 Iceland
    175 - 179 India
    180 Indonesia
    181 - 182 Iran
    183 - 184 Iraq
    185 Ireland
    186 - 187 Israel
    188 - 190 Italy
    191 Cote d'Ivoire
    192 Jamaica
    193 Japan
    194 - 195 Jordan
    196 Kenya
    197 Korea
    198 Kuwait
    199 Laos
    200 Lebanon
    201 Lesotho
    202 Liberia
    203 Libya
    204 Luxembourg
    205 Malawi
    206 Malaysia
    207 Mali
    208 Malta
    209 Mauritania
    210 Mauritius
    211 Mexico
    212 Mongolia
    213 Morocco
    214 Nepal
    215 - 217 Netherlands
    218 - 219 New Zealand
    220 Nicaragua
    221 Niger
    222 - 224 Nigeria
    225 Norway
    226 Oman
    227 - 228 Pakistan
    229 Panama
    230 Papua New Guinea
    231 Paraguay
    232 Peru
    233 Philippines
    234 Poland
    235 Portugal
    236 Qatar
    237 Romania
    238 Rwanda
    239 - 240 Saudi Arabia
    241 Senegal
    242 Seychelles
    243 Sierra Leone
    244 Singapore
    245 Somalia
    246 - 247 South Africa
    248 - 252 Russian Federation
    253 - 255 Spain
    256 Sri Lanka
    257 Sudan
    258 Swaziland
    259 Sweden
    260 Switzerland
    261 Syria
    262 Tanzania
    263 Thailand
    264 Togo
    265 Tonga
    266 Trinidad
    267 Tunisia
    268 Turkey
    269 United Arab Emirates
    270 - 274 United States of America
    275 Uruguay
    276 Venezuela
    277 Vietnam
    278 - 279 Yemenv
    280 Yugoslavia
    281 DR Congo (former Zaire)
    282 Zambia
    283 Dominica
    284 Monaco
    285 Nauru
    286 St Lucia
    287 Uganda
    288 Burkina Faso
    289 St Vincent
    290 Zimbabwe
    291 Vatican
    292 East Caribbean
    293 Belize
    294 Brunei
    295 Antigua
    296 Angola
    297 Guatemala
    298 Mozambique
    299 Namibia
    300 Lithuania
    301 Armenia
    302 Slovenia
    303 Latvia
    304 Estonia
    305 Croatia
    306 Ukraine
    307 Slovakia
    309 Albania
    312 Bosnia
    315 Kazakhstan
    316 Georgia
    350 - 400 May be used by any embassy for security reasons
    600 - 650 May be used by visiting royalty on official vehicles

    So 260D101 would be a diplomat from Swizterland.

    International Organisations:
    Code Represents
    900Commonwealth Secretariat
    901Commission for the European Community
    902Council of Europe
    903European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
    904European Organisation for Safety of Air Navigation
    905European Parliament
    906Inter-American Development Bank
    907International Maritime Organisation
    908International Cocoa Organisation
    909International Coffee Organisation
    910International Finance Corporation
    911International Labour Organisation
    912International Sugar Organisation
    913International Tin Council
    914International Whaling Commission
    915International Wheat Council
    916North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
    917United Nations
    918Western European Union
    919World Health Organization
    920Eastern Caribbean Commission
    921Joint European Torus
    922International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund
    923International Maritime Satellite Organisation
    924Commonwealth Foundation
    925International Maritime Organisation (Permanent Representative)
    926Commonwealth Telecomunications Bureau
    927United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
    928Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau
    929International Lead and Zinc Corporation
    930Oslo and Paris Commissions
    931Joint European Torus
    932North Atlantic Salmon Conservancy Organisation
    933European Investment Bank
    934European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation
    935European School (Oxford)
    936African Development Bank
    937European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
    941European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicine

    So 900X400 would be a staff numberplate for the commonwealth secretariat.


    Q is the Question

    Number plates beginning with the Q prefix are reserved for use by custom built vehicles made from multiple donor sources and when the age of the vehicle (e.g. for some imports) cannot be reliable determined.
    The DVLA introduced this series to help protect consumers against fraud with vehicles of mixed or unknown origin.

    Special Reserved Marks

    Portsmouth GPO marks were reserved for the General Post Office, issued by London.
    From 1971, Swansea SCY marks were issued by Truro for the Isles of Scilly.
    MAN was not issued by Reading, but the Isle of Man.
    USN was withheld by London for the use of the United States Navy.


    All material (except tabulated data) is copyright 1999-2005 Peter Richardson.

    You are free to copy and use tabulated data from here for your own purposes, other material remains copyright of the author and may not be reproduced in any form, except for fair use personal copies and academic purposes.

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