United Kingdom number plate: Standard

Every design of this plate 11

The same registration series, issued on 11 looks. Same format, same size; pick one to see it above.

• 

  Rear plate (yellow) default

  2001 to today

  Black characters on a yellow background at the back (S.I. 2001/561 Sch 2 Part A1 para 3).

• 

  Front plate (white)

  2001 to today

  Black characters on a white background at the front (S.I. 2001/561 Sch 2 Part A1 para 2).

• 

  Rear plate with the EU band

  2001 to 2020

  The optional left band (blue, EU stars, GB) of BS AU 145d plates; since 2021 lawful only on plates fitted before then (reg 16(3)).

• 

  Front plate with the EU band

  2001 to 2020

  The optional left band (blue, EU stars, GB) of BS AU 145d plates; since 2021 lawful only on plates fitted before then (reg 16(3)).

• 

  Rear plate with the UK identifier and Union flag

  2021 to today

  The UK identifier under the Union flag, printed at the left of the plate (reg 16(9)-(10)); the GB identifier stopped being valid abroad on 28 September 2021.

• 

  Front plate with the UK identifier and Union flag

  2021 to today

  The UK identifier under the Union flag, printed at the left of the plate (reg 16(9)-(10)).

• 

  Rear plate with a blue UK and Union flag device

  2021 to today

  The UK identifier and Union flag on a blue device at the left (reg 16(4)-(7): at most 50 mm wide).

• 

  Rear plate with the GB identifier and Union flag

  2009 to 2021

  GB under the Union flag on a blue device (S.I. 2009/811); replaced abroad by UK from 28 September 2021.

• 

  Rear plate with the England flag (ENG)

  2009 to today

  ENG under the Cross of Saint George on a blue device (reg 16(9)-(10)); not valid as a national sign abroad.

• 

  Rear plate with the Scotland flag (SCO)

  2009 to today

  SCO under the Saltire on a blue device (reg 16(9)-(10)); not valid as a national sign abroad.

• 

  Rear plate with the Wales flag (CYM)

  2009 to today

  CYM under the Red Dragon on a blue device (reg 16(9)-(10)); not valid as a national sign abroad.

  Based on Flag of Wales by Tobias Jakobs (Public domain)

Format, years and the law

Format

LL99 LLL, for example GC68 LBB (L is any letter, 9 any digit)

• characters 1-2: DVLA memory tag (region of FIRST registration)
• characters 3-4: age identifier (six-month issue period)
• characters 5-7: three letters chosen at random

The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued.

Years issued

2001 to today. Still issued.

Vehicle class

Standard: the default series issued to private road vehicles. Issued for car, van, truck, and bus.

Colours

Characters #000000 Rear plate (yellow) #FFCC00 Front plate (white) #FFFFFF

Typeface

prescribed font (Sch 4 Part 1, 79 mm); mandatory; reg 15(1): mandatory on any plate fixed to a vehicle first registered on or after 1.9.2001 · license plate fonts

About this plate

The MARK did not change, the colours did not change and the character metrics did not change; what changed is the plate-manufacturing standard and the supplier-marking and border rules.

How the region is encoded

Characters 1-2 are the memory tag. The FIRST letter is a postal area, the SECOND selects the DVLA office inside it, and the pair together names the office where the vehicle was FIRST registered, never its current location and never the keeper's address. The table is DVLA's, published in INF104 § 05 and in no statutory instrument: VERA 1994 § 23(4) does not empower regulations over the composition of a mark, only over its size, shape, character and display.

How numbers are issued

The age identifier advances twice a year, on 1 March and 1 September (INF104 § 05). Within a six-month period the random triple advances; DVLA does not publish the intra-period allocation order. Because a mark may be transferred to any vehicle (INF104 § 02) and may never make a vehicle "appear younger than it actually is" (§ 04), the age identifier is an UPPER bound on a vehicle's age and never a lower one.

Separators

The gap is a MEASUREMENT, not a glyph: Table B line 5 requires 33 mm of horizontal space between the age identifier and the random letters at 79 mm character height (38 mm at 89 mm, 30 mm at 64 mm).

Legal basis and sources

1. INF104 (4/22) § 03: 'The current vehicle registration format was introduced on 1 September 2001. It consists of: 2 letter memory tag (these refer to the region in the country where a vehicle is first registered); 2... https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6694e379fc8e12ac3edafc60/inf104-vehicle-registration-numbers-and-numbe...
2. Sch 3 Table A row 1: 'A group consisting of two letters and two numbers followed by a group of 3 letters (for example DE51 ABC)'; Table B column (3) for the 79 mm metrics https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedule/3
3. Sch 2 Part A1 paras 1-8 (BS AU 145e, white front / yellow rear, supplier markings, border) and Part 1 paras 1-3 (BS AU 145d) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/schedule/2
4. reg 15(1): the prescribed font is mandatory from 1.9.2001 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/regulation/15
5. reg 16: the optional flag/identifier device, its 50 mm cap, and the legacy-only GB band https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/regulation/16
6. VERA 1994 s 23(1) (the mark is assigned to the vehicle) and s 23(4) (the regulation-making power reaches size, shape, character and display only) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/22/section/23

Before and after

It replaced Prefix documented 1984 to 2001