Switzerland license plates

Try a plate

Type any Switzerland registration — valid plates render below, on their real designs.

Try the API

Everything on this page — formats, validity, colours, the renders themselves — is one request away.

GET /v1/plates/ch/match?plate=…

GET /v1/plates/ch/match?plate=ZH%20738216

{ "plate": "ZH 738216",
  "valid": true, "exact": true,
  "matches": [{ "id": "ch-standard--500x110",
    "render_url": "…svg?serial=ZH%20738216" }] }

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Worth knowing

The plate follows the person

Swiss registrations attach to the keeper, not the vehicle. Sell the car and the plate stays with you; low canton numbers are handed down and auctioned like heirlooms.

Front and rear disagree

The front plate is small and shield-less; the full State heraldry — federal arms, canton arms — rides only on the larger rear plate, with the statutory point at half height between number groups.

standard plates 9

the default series issued to private road vehicles

Standard

The Swiss keeper plate: canton letters and a number that follow their owner from car to car. The rear format adds federal and canton shields.

The two letters are the canton — ZH Zürich, BE Bern — and the number belongs to the keeper, not the car, moving with them from vehicle to vehicle. That is why low numbers sell: ZH 24 went for 299,000 francs at auction in 2024.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus

Work vehicle blue

Canton code and keeper's number, exactly as on a white plate but from a separate number space. The light-blue ground is the real message: a self-propelled work machine — crane, concrete pump, digger — rather than a transport vehicle.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: machine, truck

Exceptional brown

Canton letters and a plain number from the brown series' own range. The light-brown ground flags an Ausnahmefahrzeug — too big or too heavy for the general limits, moving on special authorisation. The colour is the entire code.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: truck, machine, trailer

Standard 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus

Standard 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus

Work vehicle blue 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: machine, truck

Work vehicle blue 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: machine, truck

Exceptional brown 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: truck, machine, trailer

Exceptional brown 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: truck, machine, trailer

motorcycle plates 1

reduced-size series for motorcycles where format/design differs

Motorcycle

Canton code and keeper number on the two-line plate — nothing in the string says motorcycle. Mind the category trap: a Kleinmotorrad rides the yellow plate, a Kleinmotorfahrzeug rides this white one, and the two names differ by half a word.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: motorcycle, quadricycle

moped plates 2

insurance/registration plates for mopeds (NL/DE small plates)

Light motor yellow

Canton code and number in miniature on the yellow 100 × 140 mm plate for Kleinmotorräder and light motor vehicles. Yellow alone won't identify it — the moped plate is yellow too. This one carries the two coats of arms; the moped's carries an insurance vignette.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: moped, quadricycle

Motorfahrrad

Canton letters and number read normally; the live part is the vignette — a fresh insurance sticker each year keeps a Swiss moped legal. The binding is the loosest anywhere: one number may serve several mopeds of the same keeper at once.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

1978 → today issued for: moped

agricultural plates 1

farm vehicles/equipment where separately serialized

Agricultural green

Canton code, plain number, light-green ground: agriculture and forestry — and unlike Germany's green plate, which is a tax marker, the Swiss one really is about farming. One 300 × 80 mm plate, and no coats of arms at all.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: tractor, machine, trailer

trailer plates 3

trailers and semi-trailers where separately serialized

Standard trailer

Canton letters and a number drawn from the same pool as the cars — no parser can tell a Swiss trailer from a Swiss car by the string, and even a 750 kg trailer needs its own plate. Only the plate's design differs, never the number.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: trailer, semitrailer

Standard trailer 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: trailer, semitrailer

Standard trailer 300×80 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: trailer, semitrailer

dealer plates 7

trade/garage plates bound to a business, not a vehicle

Dealer U

The trailing U is the dealer's mark: the plate belongs to a garage's collective vehicle permit and hops between the cars in its care. No official expansion for the letter is recorded — the U itself, issued since 1 July 1977, is simply the trade's badge.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

1977 → today issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, moped, trailer, tractor, machine

Dealer pre-1977

Only the canton code is left to read. How these pre-1977 dealer, rental and test plates were specially marked sits in repealed instruments nobody has retrieved — and by 1 January 1980 every last one had to be off the road.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

1977–1980 issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Rental

Canton letters as ever on Switzerland's short-lived rental-car marking, which the ordinance grouped with the dealer plates. Repealed in 2001 — since then a Swiss rental car is indistinguishable from any other, which is rather the point.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

1977–2001 issued for: car, van, bus

Dealer U 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

1977 → today issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, moped, trailer, tractor, machine

Dealer U 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

1977 → today issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, moped, trailer, tractor, machine

Dealer U 180×140 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

1977 → today issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, moped, trailer, tractor, machine

Dealer U 100×140 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

1977 → today issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, moped, trailer, tractor, machine

temporary plates 8

short-validity plates (transit, awaiting registration)

Provisional

An ordinary canton plate wearing a date: the red bar after the number has the year pressed into the metal and a month sticker on top — an expiry no string parser can see. For vehicles whose Swiss stay is temporary, inbound or outbound.

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Provisional Z

The trailing Z makes it a Zollschild: the vehicle has not cleared Swiss customs yet. The ordinance prescribes the letter but never says where it goes — the trailing position every spotter knows is practice, not law.

Z: Zoll — customs — vehicle not yet cleared

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1987 → today documented from 1987 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle

Provisional 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Provisional 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Provisional 180×140 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Provisional Z 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1987 → today documented from 1987 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle

Provisional Z 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1987 → today documented from 1987 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle

Provisional Z 180×140 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1987 → today documented from 1987 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle

military plates 2

armed-forces registration systems

Military M

An M where the canton should be — the one Swiss plate with no canton at all, because the army registers its vehicles federally. Don't over-read "federal", though: ordinary federal administration cars carry normal cantonal plates.

M: Militär — military registry

In the sample, 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

Military M 180×140 mm

In the sample, 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, trailer

diplomatic plates 6

diplomatic corps (embassy) issuance, usually its own decode

Diplomatic CD

CD is the corps diplomatique, then the canton and two number groups: the car's number within the mission — low means senior — and the federal code for the sending state or organisation. Green sign field: a country's mission; blue: an international organisation.

CD: Corps diplomatique — diplomatic corps

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Diplomatic AT

AT marks a mission's administrative and technical staff — a rung below CD, and Switzerland is unusual in giving them a sign at all. Then canton, internal number, country code. Not to be confused with the AT oval on an Austrian bumper.

AT: personnel administratif et technique — administrative and technical staff

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Diplomatic CD 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Diplomatic CD 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Diplomatic AT 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Diplomatic AT 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

consular plates 3

consular corps where distinct from diplomatic

Consular CC

CC is the corps consulaire, then the canton and two number groups: the vehicle's number inside the post, and the federal code for the sending country. Beware lookalikes of a legal kind: an honorary consul may wear a loose CC badge on an ordinary plate.

CC: Corps consulaire — consular corps

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Consular CC 500×110 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle

Consular CC 300×160 mm

In the sample, L stands for any letter and 9 for any digit; the other characters are fixed.

~1977 → today documented from 1977 — the format is likely older issued for: car, van, motorcycle