# Sweden license plate: Standard 1972

> The Sweden standard 1972 license plate: format LLL 999, for example KPY 578, 1972 to today, car, van, truck, bus, trailer, tractor, and machine.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/sweden/standard-1972 · 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 [Sweden license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/sweden) (13 registration series).

![Sweden license plate, Standard 1972 (1972 to today)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/se/se-standard-1972/sweden-license-plate-standard-1972.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `LLL 999` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | 1972 → today |
| Class | standard |
| Issued for | car, van, truck, bus, trailer, tractor, machine |
| Plate size | 520 × 110 mm |
| Other sizes | 300 × 110 mm: 'USA-skylt' — only where the mounting space does not allow the 520 mm plate; granted by Transportstyrelsen after assessing the space (written application with a photo); 170 × 150 mm: two-row; for a släpfordon only where the vehicle's construction motivates it (TSFS 2015:63 6 kap. 3 §) |
| Colours | background #FFFFFF; characters #000000; band #003399 on the left; border #000000 |
| Rear plate differs from the front | no |
| Checking a registration | The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued. |
| Series id | `se-standard-1972` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/sweden/standard-1972) |

Sources:

- [3 kap. 1 § alternative 1 ('tre bokstäver och tre siffror'); 3 kap.](https://data.riksdagen.se/dokument/sfs-2019-383.html)
- [rkrattsbaser.gov.se](https://rkrattsbaser.gov.se/sfst?bet=1972%3A599&upph=true)
- [rkrattsbaser.gov.se](https://rkrattsbaser.gov.se/sfst?bet=1972%3A605)
- ['Senaste gången registreringsnumren ändrades var 1972.](https://web.archive.org/web/20210925055728/https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Nyhetsarkiv/2019/nu-kommer-de-nya-registreringsnumren/)
- [web.archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20170820033303/https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Nyhetsarkiv/y-och-z-som-forsta-bokstav-pa-registreringsskylten/)
- [transportstyrelsen.se](https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/TSFS/TSFS%202015_63k.pdf)

## About this plate

THE SWEDISH STANDARD PLATE, first shape. Both can be true of different things, because § 67 of kungörelse 1972:605 provides that vehicles already on a county register kept their OLD numbers "till den tidpunkt när skyldighet att använda nytt registreringsnummer och ny registreringsskylt inträtt enligt kungörelsen (1971:819) om övergång till nytt bilregistreringssystem", i.e. the changeover ran on its own 1971 instrument and plausibly began issuing new numbers during 1972. The PREDECESSOR format (county letter + digits) is therefore documented but NOT authored as a series: its grammar sits in repealed instruments (kungörelsen 1937:49, vägtrafikförordningen 1951:648, vägtrafik- kungörelsen 1951:743) that no reachable database carries, and inventing a shape for it was declined.

## Region code notes

NONE, deliberately and by design: the county letter was removed when this system replaced the old one. A Swedish registration number encodes no region, no year and no vehicle class.

## How numbers are issued

Sequential-ish, but numbers freed by deregistration are RE-USED ("de nya numren kommer att användas parallellt med att gamla registreringsnummer återanvänds", 2019-01-16), so a letter block gives no reliable age. ONE date signal survives: "Från och med oktober månad 2015 går det att få Y eller Z som första bokstav på registreringsskylten", a Y- or Z-initial Swedish number cannot predate October 2015.

## Separators

The gap between letter group and digit group is a printed GAP with no glyph (TSFS 2015:63 6 kap. 4 §: "tre bokstäver till vänster och tre siffror till höger").

## Other standard plates here

- [Standard 2019](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/sweden/standard-2019) (2019 to today)
- [Off-road self-adhesive](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/sweden/offroad-selfadhesive) (documented since 2016)

## Use it

- Plate image (SVG): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/se/se-standard-1972.svg
- Make it with your own text: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plate-generator/sweden?series=se-standard-1972
- API: `GET https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/se` returns this series as the entry with `"id": "se-standard-1972"` (https://vehiclesdb.com/api)

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