# Switzerland license plate: Diplomatic CD

> The Switzerland diplomatic CD license plate: format CD LL 999-999, documented since 1977, car, van, and motorcycle.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/switzerland/diplomatic-cd · 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 [Switzerland license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/switzerland) (17 registration series).

![Switzerland license plate, Diplomatic CD (documented since 1977)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/ch/ch-diplomatic-cd/switzerland-license-plate-diplomatic-cd.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `CD LL 999-999` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | ~1977 → today (documented from 1977; the format is likely older) |
| Class | diplomatic |
| Issued for | car, van, motorcycle |
| Plate size | 300 × 80 mm |
| Other sizes | 500 × 110 mm: rear Langformat; 300 × 160 mm: rear Hochformat |
| Colours | background #FFFFFF; characters #000000 |
| Rear plate differs from the front | yes |
| Checking a registration | The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued. |
| Series id | `ch-diplomatic-cd` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/switzerland/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.

| Code | Stands for | English |
|---|---|---|
| `CD` | Corps diplomatique | diplomatic corps |

Sources:

- [VZV Art. 82 Abs. 2 lit. d (CD/CC/AT on a dark green or dark blue field — 'Eingefügt durch Anhang 1 Ziff. II 10 der V vom 19. Juni 1995 ..., in Kraft seit 1. Okt. 1995 (AS 1995 4425)'); Art. 83 Abs. 4 (ASTRA may set deviating formats); Art. 84 Abs. 4 (no arms, black canton letters, the two dot-separated number groups and what each means, photographic or riveted manufacture); Art. 85 Abs. 4 (front / long-rear / high-rear layouts); Art. 86 Abs. 1 (who gets CD); Art. 87 Abs. 4 (issued in agreement with the FDFA)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1976/2423_2423_2423/de)
- [VTS Art. 33 Abs. 6 (vehicles of keepers with diplomatic or consular privileges are exempt from periodic inspection)](https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1995/4425_4425_4425/de)

## What each position encodes

- sign: on a dark green or dark blue field (Art. 82 Abs. 2 lit. d)
- canton: the two canton letters, in BLACK, Art. 84 Abs. 4

## About this plate

THE CD SERIES. Art. 86 Abs. 1 defines eligibility exactly: service cars of diplomatic missions and the private vehicles of their diplomatic staff; the same for permanent missions to intergovernmental organisations; and service cars of institutional beneficiaries under Art. 2 Abs. 1 lit. a, b, i, j, k, l and m of the Gaststaatgesetz (SR 192.12) plus the vehicles of their most senior officials who enjoy diplomatic status in Switzerland. Art. 86 Abs. 4 forbids the use of a SEPARATE "CD" or "AT" sign (a loose badge) outright. TWO RECORDED GAPS, both deliberate: the country/organisation code table behind the second number group is an FDFA allocation and is not in the VZV; and the ordinance does not assign the dark-green and dark-blue fields to particular signs. Neither was guessed. The Swiss design choice is the mirror image of Germany's: Germany hides diplomatic status in an ordinary-looking plate, Switzerland puts a coloured sign field on the plate and takes the coats of arms off.

## Other diplomatic plates here

- [Diplomatic AT](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/switzerland/diplomatic-at) (documented since 1977)

## Use it

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

---

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