# License plate fonts: what each country and state uses

> What font is on a license plate? Germany uses FE-Schrift, the UK a font drawn in its law, US states pick their own. Sources, and where to get each legally.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/fonts · Markdown version of the HTML page, which is canonical. Site map: https://vehiclesdb.com/llms.txt · Terms of use: https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/terms

The short answer: **there is no single license plate font.** Each country, and in the US each state, decides its own lettering. A few names cover most of what people mean:

- **Germany:** FE-Schrift, a typeface designed to be hard to forge.
- **United Kingdom:** the "prescribed font" drawn in the 2001 regulations, which plate makers call **Charles Wright**.
- **Brazil and Argentina (the Mercosur plate):** FE-Engschrift, the narrow cut of FE-Schrift.
- **Greece:** DIN 1451, the German road-sign typeface.
- **United States:** no national font. Each state makes its own plates, and none of the statutes we've read names a typeface.

Something most font sites don't tell you: in most countries the law doesn't name a font at all. It **draws the letters**, in an annex or a schedule, and the plate must match that drawing. That's why "where to download the official license plate font" usually has no answer, and why the fonts you'll find online are replicas. Below is what each country's own law says, with a link to it, and which replicas you can license.

![German license plate M KA 2843 in FE-Schrift](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/de/de-standard.svg?serial=M+KA+2843)

Germany: FE-Schrift, 75 mm tall

![UK number plate GC68 LBB in the prescribed font](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/gb/gb-standard-2001.svg?serial=GC68+LBB)

United Kingdom: the prescribed font, 79 mm tall

![Brazilian Mercosul license plate BRA2E19 in FE-Engschrift](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/br/br-mercosul-standard-2018.svg?serial=BRA2E19)

Brazil: FE-Engschrift, 65 mm tall

![Greek license plate TON-7764 in DIN 1451](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/gr/gr-standard-2004.svg?serial=TON-7764)

Greece: DIN 1451, two different cuts

These are our own drawings of each country's current plate, to show where the characters sit and how big they are. They're not a font file; for the exact letterforms, use the sources in the table further down.

## The UK number plate font (Charles Wright)

UK law doesn't use the name Charles Wright anywhere. The [Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/regulation/15) define a **"prescribed font"**, and [Schedule 4](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedule/4) is a drawing of every character in it: one set at 79 mm tall for cars, and a separate set at 64 mm for motorcycles.

What regulation 15 says, in plain words:

- A plate on a vehicle first registered on or after **September 1, 2001**, or any replacement plate fitted from that date, **must use the prescribed font**. The one exception is a vehicle first registered before January 1, 1973.
- Older plates may use the prescribed font or a style "substantially similar" to it.
- Either way, these are out: italic letters, slanted characters, strokes that curve or line up very differently from the prescribed font, double or broken strokes, and any character shaped to look like another one. Serifs on their own don't make a font illegal.

On a car plate, the characters are 79 mm tall and 50 mm wide (except the 1 and the I), with a 14 mm stroke; on a motorcycle they're 64 mm tall and 44 mm wide, as the [British Number Plate Manufacturers Association](https://bnma.org/advice-centre/number-plate-design/legal-fonts) summarises it. The BNMA also says it plainly: "The legal number plate font is Charles Wright", which is the trade name for that drawing. [Our UK plates page](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-kingdom) has the formats and sizes.

## The German license plate font (FE-Schrift)

German plates use **FE-Schrift**, short for *fälschungserschwerende Schrift*, "the font that makes forgery harder". The German National Library records that it was developed in 1978 to 1980 by **Karlgeorg Hoefer** for the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), designed to be "difficult to forge and easily machine-readable", has been on German plates since 1994, and **completely replaced DIN 1451 in 2000** after a transition ([DNB](https://mediengeschichte.dnb.de/DBSMZBN/Content/EN/FontDesign/05-fe-schrift-en.html)).

The law behind it is [Annex 4 of the Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/fzv_2023/anlage_4.html): the lettering must match the official samples called "Schrift für Kfz-Kennzeichen", which you get from the BASt. Characters are **75 mm** tall in both the normal (Mittelschrift) and narrow (Engschrift) cuts, and 49 mm on motorcycle and small two-line plates. Bundeswehr plates and moped insurance plates are the exception: they still use **DIN 1451**.

The same typeface travels: Brazil and Argentina name **FE-Engschrift** for the Mercosur plate, and South Africa's Free State provincial notices call for "FE modified 75mm" per the SABS 1116 standard. More on those below. [Our Germany page](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/germany) has every German plate type, and [/kennzeichen](https://vehiclesdb.com/kennzeichen) decodes every district code.

## The Italian license plate font

Italian law doesn't name a typeface either. Article 260 of the Highway Code regulation says the size of the plates and the shape of their characters are "those shown in the figures annexed" to it, and the models are deposited with the transport ministry ([DPR 495/1992](https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.del.presidente.della.repubblica:1992-12-16;495~art260)). So the official Italian plate font is, again, a drawing.

![Italian license plate WK 121 NZ](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/it/it-standard-1999.svg?serial=WK+121+NZ)

Italy: the current plate, issued since 1999

If you want that look in a design, the licensed option is **Targa** by Zetafonts: Luc Devroye's archive records that Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini drew it in 2002 from "the peculiar sans serif monospace typeface" Italy uses on its plates, and Francesco Canovaro redrew it as the multi-weight Targa Pro in 2022 ([Luc Devroye](https://luc.devroye.org/fonts-47531.html)). It's inspired by the plates, not the plate drawing itself. [Our Italy page](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/italy) has the formats.

## US license plate fonts: every state has its own

There's **no national US license plate font**. The closest thing to a rule is the [AAMVA License Plate Standard](https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/3514b445-1f2e-45c4-a785-49d9926e2f4e/License-Plate-Standard,-Edition-2-Revised.pdf) (Edition 2), a standard the states can adopt rather than a law. It doesn't name a typeface either. It asks for:

- characters **at least 2.5 inches tall**, spaced at least 0.25 inches apart, with a stroke between 0.2 and 0.4 inches;
- "standardized fonts and font sizes that clearly distinguish characters", so that A and R, 8 and B, or O and Q can't be mixed up.

Each state then picks its own lettering, and the statutes we've read leave it to the motor vehicle department. Texas puts it in so many words: "The department has sole control over the design, typeface, color, and alphanumeric pattern for all license plates" ([Tex. Transp. Code § 504.005(a)](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._transp._code_section_504.005)).

![California license plate 123SBX4](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ca/us-ca-standard-123abc1.svg?serial=123SBX4)

California

![Texas license plate ABC-1234](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-tx/us-tx-standard.svg?serial=ABC-1234)

Texas

![Washington license plate IBU1171](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-wa/us-wa-standard.svg?serial=IBU1171)

Washington

### California license plate font

California doesn't publish a named typeface for its plates. They're made by incarcerated workers at **Folsom State Prison**, which has manufactured California's license plates since 1947, today from aluminium with reflective sheeting ([CALCTRA](https://catalog.calctra.ca.gov/services/license-plates)). The font designers usually reach for is **Penitentiary Gothic** by Andrew Leman and Richard Lucas (2001), a commercial font that Ward Nicholson's survey of plate fonts describes as a "replica of California's font" ([Luc Devroye's type archive](https://luc.devroye.org/fonts-49117.html)). The red "California" script at the top is a separate piece of lettering, not part of any plate font. See [California license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--california) for the current 1ABC123 and new 123ABC1 formats.

### Other states

The same survey lists replicas for other states: **License Plate** by Dave Hansen (2005, free) after Washington's lettering, and **Pennsylvania** by Christian Schwartz (2000, commercial) and **Keystone State** by Anuthin Wongsunkakon (1999, commercial) after Pennsylvania's. It also notes that 3M based the default fonts of the digital plate system it sold to US prison plate shops on Bitstream's **Zurich Extra Condensed**, a close relative of Univers. None of these is an official state font; they're the closest licensed matches. For any other state, the safe route is its DMV.

## What each country's law says about the letters

This is what our plates dataset records for each jurisdiction, from the regulation itself. "Drawn in the law" means the regulation includes a picture of each character rather than naming a typeface.

| Jurisdiction | What the law prescribes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| [Germany](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/germany) | FE-Schrift samples from the BASt; 75 mm (49 mm on motorcycles); DIN 1451 on Bundeswehr plates | [FZV Annex 4](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/fzv_2023/anlage_4.html) |
| [United Kingdom](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-kingdom) | The prescribed font, drawn in Schedule 4; 79 mm, 64 mm on motorcycles; mandatory since September 2001 | [S.I. 2001/561 reg. 15](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/regulation/15) |
| [Brazil](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/brazil) | FE-Engschrift, 65 mm (53 mm on motorcycles); "BRASIL" in Gill Sans | [CONTRAN Res. 969/2022, Annex I](https://www.gov.br/transportes/pt-br/assuntos/transito/conteudo-contran/resolucoes/resolucao9692022anexos.pdf) |
| [Argentina](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/argentina) | FE-Engschrift, 65 mm (53 mm on motorcycles) on the Mercosur plate | [Ley 27.187, Annex](https://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/250000-254999/253150/ley27187.pdf) |
| [Greece](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/greece) | DIN 1451: the narrow cut for letters, the medium cut for digits | [ΥΑ 4700/330/2004 art. 2](https://www.dsanet.gr/Epikairothta/Nomothesia/yaoik4700-330_04.htm) |
| [South Africa](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/south-africa) | "FE modified 75mm" per SABS 1116 (Free State notices; other provinces not established) | [Free State PN 51 of 2002](https://www.policeroadstransport.fs.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Licence-number-plate-for-the-Free-State-2002.pdf) |
| [France](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/france) | No named font: plain sans serif "caractères bâtons", no narrowing, no serifs, gaps in closed letters no wider than 3 mm | [Arrêté of February 9, 2009, art. 6](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000020237128) |
| [Austria](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/austria) | No named font: samples held by the ministry; 10 mm stroke, 71 to 72 mm tall, a width for every character | [KDV Annex 5e](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/Bundesnormen/NOR40267389/NOR40267389.html) |
| [Czechia](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/czechia) | No named font: 75 mm tall, 40 mm wide, 10 mm stroke on the long plate; embossed | [Vyhláška 243/2001 § 24](https://aplikace.mv.gov.cz/sbirka-zakonu/ViewFile.aspx?type=c&id=3670) |
| [Italy](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/italy) | No named font: characters as drawn in the figures annexed to the regulation | [DPR 495/1992 art. 260](https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.del.presidente.della.repubblica:1992-12-16;495~art260) |
| [Poland](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/poland) | No named font: a dimensioned drawing of every letter and digit (Figure 7) | [Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1709, Annex 12](https://api.sejm.gov.pl/eli/acts/DU/2024/1709/text/O/D20241709.pdf) |
| [Belgium](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/belgium) | No named font: characters drawn in Annexes 1 and 2 | [Arrêté ministériel of 2001](https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/article.pl?language=fr&lg_txt=f&numac_search=2001014154&caller=SUM&view_numac=2001014154f) |
| [Finland](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/finland) | No named font: dimensioned drawings at 72, 70, 56 and 35 mm; transfer plates in Arial Narrow Bold | [Traficom regulation § 4.2 and § 5](https://www.finlex.fi/api/media/authority-regulation/536142/mainPdf/main.pdf) |
| [Estonia](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/estonia) | No named font: four drawn letter types, 49 or 77 mm | [Regulation 49, Annex 2](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/aktilisa/1030/6202/2012/MKM49_lisa2.pdf) |
| [Switzerland](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/switzerland) | No named font: the federal roads office (ASTRA) decides the lettering | [VZV art. 85(5)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1976/2423_2423_2423/de) |
| [Monaco](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/monaco) | Swiss721 BT, named for the provisional WW plates | [Arrêté ministériel 78-5](https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/) |
| [Japan](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/japan) | No named font: characters as drawn in Form No. 1 of the road vehicle rules | [Road Transport Vehicle Act rules, art. 11](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/1/lawdata/326M50000800074) |
| [Mexico](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/mexico) | No named font: characters drawn in figures 36 to 39 of NOM-001-SCT-2-2016 | [DOF, June 24, 2016](https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5442476&fecha=24/06/2016) |
| [India](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/india) | No named font: sizes only, 65 mm tall with a 10 mm stroke for cars | [CMVR rule 51](https://web.archive.org/web/20211130113450id_/https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/CMVR-chapter3.pdf) |
| [Texas](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--texas) | No named font: the Texas DMV has "sole control over the design, typeface" | [Transp. Code § 504.005(a)](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._transp._code_section_504.005) |
| [United States](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states) (other states) | No national font; AAMVA recommends 2.5 in characters that can't be confused | [AAMVA standard § 2.2, 2.3](https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/3514b445-1f2e-45c4-a785-49d9926e2f4e/License-Plate-Standard,-Edition-2-Revised.pdf) |

A few more findings from the same research. **Sweden** and **Denmark** don't prescribe any lettering at all, and neither does **New Zealand**. **Cyprus** and **Malta** are often said to require FE-Schrift; Cyprus draws its letters in a 2013 notice without naming any typeface, and Maltese law names none and draws none. **Slovenia**'s lettering is usually called Helvetica, but the regulation only points to a technical specification that isn't published. Sources as of November 11, 2026; laws change, so check the link before you rely on a row.

## Where to get a license plate font legally

Because the official letters are mostly drawings, "legally" means one of three things:

1. **Read the drawing in the law.** The UK's [Schedule 4](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedule/4), Poland's Figure 7, Finland's annexes and Japan's Form No. 1 are published with the regulation itself. That's the reference for checking a design, not a ready-to-type font.
2. **Ask the authority.** Germany's annex says the FE-Schrift samples come from the Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, so that's the official source; we haven't found a public licence for any digital FE-Schrift file, so check the terms of whoever sells you one.
3. **License a replica from its foundry.** Penitentiary Gothic (California) and Pennsylvania are commercial; K-Type's [Mandatory](https://www.k-type.com/fonts/mandatory/) is "developed from the typeface used for UK vehicle registration plates" and is free for personal use, with paid licences for commercial work. Where a law names a commercial typeface (Gill Sans in Brazil, Swiss721 in Monaco, Arial Narrow in Finland), it comes from that typeface's foundry like any other font.

A replica is fine for a mock-up, a poster or a game. It doesn't make a plate road-legal on its own; the plate itself still has to come the way your registration authority says.

## Plates in your own product

If you need license plates in an app (a parking tool, a car listing, a fleet dashboard), you don't need a font at all. Every [license plate page](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates) on VehiclesDB draws the real design for that country or state, with any registration number, and the same plate images are available through the API next to the plate formats, [sizes](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/dimensions) and validation rules for every jurisdiction we cover.

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Open data, CC BY 4.0: reuse it with a visible credit to VehiclesDB and a link (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/attribution). Plate images show sample serials and are not open data (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/image-license). Dataset commit db0ec0a: https://github.com/vehiclesdb/vehiclesdb