# Iceland license plate: District

> The Iceland district license plate: format L-99999, for example S-89002, 1938 to 1989, car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, and tractor.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/district-1938 · Markdown version of the HTML page, which is canonical. Site map: https://vehiclesdb.com/llms.txt · Terms of use: https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/terms

Part of [Iceland license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland) (11 registration series).

![Iceland license plate, District (1938 to 1989)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/is/is-district-1938/iceland-license-plate-district.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `L-99999` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | 1938–1989 |
| Class | standard |
| Issued for | car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, tractor |
| Plate size | 520 × 110 mm |
| Colours | background #000000; characters #FFFFFF |
| Checking a registration | The format above is broad: a registration that fits it has the right shape, which does not show that this series issued it. |
| Series id | `is-district-1938` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/district-1938) |

Sources:

- [34. gr.: vehicles registered before 1 January 1989 may keep old-type plates, with sunsets of 31 December 1997 (bifhjól, eftirvagnar) and 31 December 1998 (others). PRIMARY, and the source of this series' end date.](https://www.reglugerd.is/reglugerdir/allar/nr/78-1997)
- [VII. kafli 'Skráningarmerki samkvæmt eldri reglugerðum - notkun þeirra': 29. gr. governs vehicles registered before 1 January 1989, 30.-31. gr. vintage vehicles. PRIMARY.](https://www.reglugerd.is/reglugerdir/allar/nr/751-2003)
- [is.wikipedia.org](https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BAmeraplata)
- [2026-06-08): the same index; 'From 1 January 1989, all further use of those plates was forbidden (except for vehicles that already had them on)'; the post-1989 district-emblem sticker.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Iceland)

## About this plate

No pre-1988 Icelandic vehicle-registration regulation is held by reglugerd.is, so neither the 1938 reform nor the letter index has a primary here; the decode file names the best unclosed lead (a pre-1988 regulation cited by Hagtíðindi 1989 as "nr. 40"). NOTE THE SUNSET: the old plates were not merely superseded, they were withdrawn, 78/1997 34. gr. required them off bifhjól and eftirvagnar by 31 December 1997 and off everything else by 31 December 1998, so a pre-1989 plate on a road-going Icelandic vehicle today is a vintage-scheme plate under 751/2003 30.-31. gr., not a survivor.

## Region code notes

The letter decodes the district of the OWNER'S DOMICILE at the time of issue, not the vehicle's home, not where it was used, and not anything after a sale.

## How numbers are issued

Sequential within each district, but the number followed the OWNER, not the vehicle: a sale across district lines produced a NEW number, and an owner could carry his number to a new car. That is exactly what 1989 abolished.

## About the format

Digit width is likewise unsourced: it grew with motorisation and no instrument fixing it was retrieved, so 1 to 5 is an observed envelope, not a grammar. The two-letter codes JO, VL and the three-letter VLE are why the letter group runs to three.

## Before and after

| Relation | Series | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Replaced by | [Standard 1989](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/standard-1989) | 1989 to today |

## Other standard plates here

- [Oil](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/oil-2006) (documented since 2006)
- [Standard 2006](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/standard-2006) (documented since 2006)
- [Off-road](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/offroad-2003) (documented since 2003)
- [VAT free](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/vat-free-2003) (documented since 2003)
- [Standard 1989](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/iceland/standard-1989) (1989 to today)

## Use it

- Plate image (SVG): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/is/is-district-1938.svg
- Make it with your own text: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plate-generator/iceland?series=is-district-1938
- API: `GET https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/is` returns this series as the entry with `"id": "is-district-1938"` (https://vehiclesdb.com/api)

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