I was considering giving up on writing this article about license plates, because I thought it would just end up being boring. After all, what is so special about license plates?

However, after reading what my Lexiophiles´ mates wrote about the license plates in their countries, I realized that even though all of our license plates have characters and numbers, they are still so different from each other!

So, about license plates in Latin America: They are different for each country – unlike in Europe, where there is a pattern – and it is usually not so hard to recognize where a car comes from.

Brazil:

The license plates are issued by each state – and they have a three-letter combination with a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle can never be changed or transferred to another vehicle.

Above the combination is the State abbreviation (SP for São Paulo, RJ for Rio de Janeiro, etc.) and the name of the city in which the vehicle is registered.

The colors of the plates vary according to the use of the vehicle: black letters on gray background for privately-owned vehicles, white on red for paid transportation (such as taxis or buses), black on white for official or governmental use, etc.

Now with a bit less explanation (since these are not my countries) but a few more colors, the license plates from other latinos:

Argentina:

White on black, with a blue capitalized ‘Argentina’ at the top to match the blue color of the flag.

Bolivia: 

Blue on white, surrounded by a blue band, again with the name of the country. In the upper right corner is a tab with a blue letter indicating the department (state) of the car.

Chile:

Black on white, with two letters followed by a white five pointed star – probably to match the flag - and by four numerals.

Colombia:

Colombian license plates have black characters on yellow background. They –like in Brazil – don´t have the name of the country written, just the district name at the bottom.

Paraguay:

Very nationalist, the license plates in Paraguay have a national flag and the name of the country and it is red and white, two of the national colors.

Estava pensando seriamente em desistir de escrever um artigo sobre as placas de carro no Brasil ou na América Latina, porque pensei que seria um assunto chato. Afinal, o que as placas tem de especial?

Porém, ao ler os textos dos meus colegas do Lexiophiles sobre as placas de veículos nos seus países eu percebi que mesmo que em todos os lugares elas sejam compostas de letras e números, cada uma tem sua especificidade.

Então sobre as placas na América Latina: elas são diferentes em cada país – ao contrário da Europa onde existe um padrão a ser seguido – e não é muito difícil reconhecer a que país elas pertencem.

Brasil:

As places de carro são emitidas em cada estado e possuem uma combinação de três letras com quatro números, e um ponto entre eles. Uma combinação usada para um veículo deve permanecer com ele sempre e não poderá ser trocada ou transferida.

Acima da combinação está a abreviação do estado (SP para São Paulo, RJ para Rio de Janeiro, etc.) e o nome da cidade na qual o veículo está registrado.

As cores das placas variam de acordo com a finalidade do veículo: letras pretas em fundo cinza para veículos privados, branco em vermelho para transporte pago (como taxis e ônibus), preto no branco para carros oficiais, etc.

Agora com um pouco menos de explicação mas um pouco mais de cores, as places de outros países latinos:

Argentina:
Branco no preto, com um escrito em letras maiúsculas ‘Argentina’ na parte superior, em azul para combinar com a bandeira.

Bolívia:
Azul no branco, com uma borda azul e também com o nome do país. Na parte superior direita um quadro mostra o departamento/estado de onde vem o veículo.

Chile:
Preto no branco, com duas letras seguidas de uma estrela de cinco pontas – provavelmente para combinar com a bandeira – e quatro números.

Colômbia:
A Colômbia tem caracteres pretos sobre um fundo amarelo. Assim como no Brasil, eles não colocam o nome do país, somente o distrito.

Paraguai:
Muito nacionalistas, as places no Paraguai têm a bandeira nacional e o nome do país, e são vermelhas e brancas, duas das cores nacionais.

France

In France, the plate is linked to the vehicule. The official colors are white in front and white or yellow at the rear.

The numbering is follows the pattern 1111 AAA 22 i.e. 3 or 4 figures, then 2 or 3 letters and finally the department number (usually between 1 and 100). Beside the plate, the European flag and the letter « F » for France are mandatory. You can then figure out the living place of someone by looking at his or her licence plate : the last number is 75 for Paris, 13 for Marseille, 62 for Pas-de-Calais, 14 for Calvados, etc. Hardcore football fans of PSG (famous Parisian club) and OM (Olympique de Marseille, their sworn opponent) use that trick in order to locate each other when there is a match in town.

After April 2009, the numbering will be like AA-001-AA (2 letters - 3 figures – 2 letters). The departement number disappears, which caused some deputies to protest : they demanded and obtained the mandatory mention of any department number (at owner’s choice). Since the plate is linked to the car, the next owners of the vehicule will not have the choice of this number, I guess...

Are excluded of all plates: I, O and U (possible confusion with 1, 0 and V)

Besides that : SS, PD (fag), PQ (toilet paper), QQ ("ass – ass"), WC, AZF (in Haute-Garonne, owing to the AZF catastrophe )...

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Belgium

Numbering is 3 letters + 3 figures, in red font on white background. The plate is linked to the driver, and follows him/her on the successive vehicules: for example, my parents own the same plate for 25 years, which passed from a 2CV to an Opel, then a Renault and nowadays a Fiat.

The rear plate is provided by the State, and the driver will copy it for the front plate.

The combinations leading to profanities are not issued : ANE (donkey, but also idiot, dimwit), CON (jerk, also cunt), CUL (ass), SEX (...) ; let’s not forget the Dutch ones: AAP (monkey – a racist swearword), DOM (dumb). Initials of political parties should not be issued, either : CDH (Centre démocrate humaniste), MR (Mouvement réformateur), VLD (Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten), VB (Vlaams Belang), etc.

Some unusual plates are still to be seen, these are numberings which are not issued anymore but still used by the driver. A plate not responding to the pattern AAA 111 is more-than-probably used by an old driver (60+ years old), like this one or this one .  More on this on Belgian old numberings.

Finally, Brussels is often crossed through by EU institutions’ vehicules.  NATO has its own plates, too.

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A couple of plates that will make you grin from ear to ear:

http://flickr.com/photos/gilles_itzkovitchklein/121961807/
RMI = revenu minimum d’insertion, minimum social wage.

http://flickr.com/photos/hotel_lyric/1919563233/
GR05 CON ==> gros con, big jerk

http://flickr.com/photos/gonzobonzo/539419860/
LOVE 69

http://flickr.com/photos/opto/2781227366/
FDP = fils de pute, son of a bit**

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Ressources

French registration plates on Wiki

Against the disappearing of the departement’s number

The site of an enthusiast, with gazillions of photos :

The list of the departments and their number

France

En France, la plaque est associée au véhicule. Le modèle homologué, ce qui signifie que (normalement) tout le monde a la même couleur de plaque : blanches à l'avant et jaunes ou blanches à l'arrière.

La numérotation est ainsi : 1111 AAA 22 c’est-à-dire 3 ou 4 chiffres suivis par 2 ou 3 lettres, et terminés par le numéro de département. Sont également obligatoires le drapeau européen et la lettre « F » (France). Avec un peu d’habitude, on peut déterminer l’origine de quelqu’un en regardant le dernier numéro de sa plaque d’immatriculation : 75 pour les Parisiens, 13 pour les Marseillais, 62 pour le Pas-de-Calais, 14 pour le Calvados, etc. Les supporters fanatiques du PSG (célèbre club de foot parisien) et ceux de l’OM (Olympique de Marseille) utilisent ce truc pour se repérer l’un l’autre les soirs de match...
Après avril 2009, la numérotation ressemblera à AA-001-AA (2 lettres - 3 chiffres - deux lettres). La référence au département disparait, ce qui a suscité l’indignation de certains parlementaires. Ils ont finalement obtenu la mention obligatoire du numéro et du logo d’un département au choix du propriétaire. (commentaire personnel : puisque le numéro est attaché à la voiture, cela revient à choisir ce numéro pour ses futurs propriétaires)

Lettres exclues de toute plaque : I, O et U (en raison des confusions possibles avec 1, 0 et V)
Certaines associations de lettres peuvent aussi être exclues : SS, PD, PQ, QQ, WC, AZF (en Haute-Garonne, en raison du caractère sensible de la catastrophe de l’usine AZF).

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Belgique

La numérotation consiste en 3 lettres + 3 chiffres, en rouge sur fond blanc. Elle est attribuée à un conducteur, et passe donc sur ses véhicules sucessifs : par exemple, mes parent possèdent la même plaque depuis 25 ans, et elle est passée de la 2CV à l’Opel, puis à la Renault et à la Fiat, et sera montée sur le prochain véhicule.

La plaque arrière est fournie par l'État (modèle homologué) tandis que la plaque avant est à charge du propriétaire.

Les combinaisons conduisant à des vulgarités ne sont pas délivrées : ANE, CON, CUL, SEX ; mais aussi par égard au néerlandais : AAP (singe), DOM (crétin) Autre exclusion, les initiales de partis politiques : CDH (Centre démocrate humaniste) ou VLD (Libéraux et démocrates flamands).

On croise parfois des plaques plutôt inhabituelles, qui sont d’anciennes numérotations aujourd’hui abandonnées. Si vous croisez une plaque différente de AAA 111, c’est certainement un vieux conducteur ! Exemple: celle-ci ou celle-là

Enfin, on croise souvent des véhicules attachés aux institutions europénnes à Bruxelles
et à l’OTAN.

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Quelques plaques qui feront sourire nos lecteurs francophones :

http://flickr.com/photos/gilles_itzkovitchklein/121961807/
RMI = revenu minimum d’insertion

http://flickr.com/photos/hotel_lyric/1919563233/
GR05 CON --> gros con

http://flickr.com/photos/gonzobonzo/539419860/
LOVE 69

http://flickr.com/photos/opto/2781227366/
FDP (fils de pute...)

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Ressources :
Immatriculation française

Mouvement d’opposition à la disparition des numéros de département

Un site de fan, avec de nombreuses photos

La liste des départements et leur numéro

在德国东部小镇格罗斯奥贝尔村，坐落着世界上唯一的一座车牌博物馆。博物馆中有一块长方形金属车牌，上面只写了一个“1”字——这应该是现在保存下来的最古老的汽车牌照了。1899年，德国慕尼黑警察局给一名叫巴伊斯尔特的车主发了这块牌照。

世界上第一块车牌应该出自一位贵妇人。自德国制造出世界上第一辆汽车后，汽车很快就成了德国有钱人的新宠。为了与其他汽车有所差别，被称为世界上第一位女汽车驾驶员的奔驰夫人贝尔塔给自己的爱座动手打造了一块铁牌。牌上用油漆写上自己的名字，还有家庭住址——这大概也是世界上的第一块车牌。

在汽车越来越普及之后，一些驾车人发生交通事故后经常逃逸。为此德国各地警察局规定，所有汽车都必须挂上有车主姓名、住址以及登记号码的官方牌照。那时，除了车牌号码统一发放外，牌照的大小、颜色和样式都得自己设计，并找工匠定做。所以车牌样式五花八门，而且可以挂在汽车的任何部位。直到20世纪初年，德国才开始实行统一的汽车牌照。

Lexiophiles决定说一说各国车牌的故事。在我们持续更新的文章中，你将找到对各国汽车牌照的介绍。目前已经发布的文章有：

意大利: English | Italiano

德国: English | Deutsch

瑞典: English | Svenska

中国: English | 汉语

日本: English | 日本语

法国 & 比利时: English | Français
...

Located in Gross Aubel, a small town in the east of Germany, is the only License Plate Museum in the world. Part of the museum’s collection is an oblong metal plate with only a “1” written on it ---this is the oldest license plate that has been preserved. It was issued in 1899 by the Munich police department to a vehicle owner, Bayi Swot.

The world’s first license plate was the idea of a German noblewoman. When Karl Benz made the world’s first car, it became the new favorite “must-have” item for rich people. To distinguish her car from others, Bertha Benz (the wife of Karl Benz) made a ferric plate, writing her name and address on it.

At first, the license plate was able to be placed anywhere on the car. The vehicle owner was responsible for the design of the plate, including the size, color and style until the early 1900s, when Germany began to unify the license plate system.

Lexiophiles has decided to discuss license plates in different countries. Here you can find our posts regarding the following countries:

Italy: English | Italiano

Germany: English | Deutsch

Sweden: English | Svenska

China: English | 汉语

Japan: English | 日本语

France & Belgium: English | Français

Portuguese: English | Português

A license plate in Japan is nothing special. All plates consist of a strict sequence of characters and numbers. For example, 東京２００か１０－１０. The first Chinese character is the name of the City where it was issued. 3 random digits are followed by a Hiragana character. The sequence is completed by a four digit serial number at the end. It is very simple.

When I was living in America, I saw so many unique license plates, including plates with philosophical or religious messages on them, which I have never seen in Japan.

This starts to become a more interesting topic now because a license plate in Japan reflects part of the culture! In Japan, we do not really have a custom of showing our own messages or opinions in public. These must be hidden because harmony is the most important virtue. In fact, individualism is not really appreciated. On the other hand, in Western societies, individualism is embraced. The more different you are, the better it seems to be.

But in my opinion, I simply prefer license plates that are very simple and easy to read, like the Japanese ones. It actually improves my driving as I had almost a car accident in America when I was reading a message on a license plate in front of my car. Folks - be careful out there!

日本のナンバープレートに関して言えば本当に質素です。たとえば,
“東京２００か１０－１０”などが例で、どこでそのプレートが発行されたかが表示される漢字3桁のナンバーに一文字のかたかなに4桁の数字がきます。きわめてシンプルです。

アメリカに住んでいたころは、とてもユニークなプレートを見かけたものです。それはときに哲学的だったり、宗教的なメッセージでした。こういったものはまったく日本ではみかけませんでした。

ああやっとおもしろい話題になってきました。ナンバープレートだけをとっても、その文化を垣間見ることができますね。日本では自分の意見などを公で言う習慣はありません。日本社会では調和が一番重要な要素であるからです。事実、個人主義は本当によいものとはみなされません。その一方で、西洋文化では個人主義は大切にされ、人と違えば違うほど、かっこいいみたいな風潮さえあるように思われます。

まあ私個人的には、シンプルで読みやすい日本のナンバープレートのほうがすきです。少なくともドライブするときはそうですね。なんていったってアメリカにいたころはメッセージをうっかり読んでいて、車事故の直前までいきましたから！海外に行くときは、皆さんもどうかお気をつけてくださいね。

在北京当交警不容易，因为路上行驶的车牌号中有很多门道。京城里边云高水深，卧虎藏龙，一张车牌的背后可能就隐藏着一个权势人物。身为交警，必须能够快速分辨出路面上行驶的特权车辆，给予适当的方便照顾。

中国的特权车牌和民用车牌外观看起来并无区别。秘密全都隐藏在上面的号段里。这里，就简单介绍一下不同号段的特殊含义。

介绍之前，先说一下北京车牌号的格式。北京的车牌号由一个中国汉字“京”（即“北京”的缩写）和1个字母的组合，以及5位数字或字母和数字组成。例如：“京F 31313”或“京A F2345”。如图所示：

图片来源：http://zhexie.net/node/45

顶级车牌——“京AG6”，皇家血统。
全中国以“京A G6”开头的车牌只有200块。这个号牌的使用者全部为副国级的人大副委员长、政协副主席们等。上这个号牌的车辆几乎都是奥迪A6，及部分奔驰S级——这两种车型是典型的中国政府公务车。

第二阶层——“京A8”号段：部级身份。
这是仅次于“京AG6”的“牛牌”。其中“京A80***、81***、82***”的车牌又是最牛的。属于中办（中共中央办公厅）、国管（国务院机关事务管理局）、中警（中共中央警卫局）、市委（中共北京市委）。另外，一些部长以及国家领导人的家属的座车也使用“京A8”的号牌，使这个车牌具有了更显赫的地位。后来，因为车牌号不够分，“京A83”也被使用。

另外值得一提的是，因为中国人对数字“8”的偏爱（在中文里8的发音类似“发”），能得到“京A88”开头号牌的车主即是不是手眼通天，也绝对是有“特殊关系”的人。所以，虽然它不意味着一定来自权贵部门，在交警眼里，“京A88”和“京A80、81、82、83”的车牌基本具有相同的效果。

另外，还有一个特殊号段：“京O A7***”的牌子也是部级领导的号牌。而“京O A8”的号牌则意味着这辆车来自中国公安部。

第三阶层
京ET、京EX、京H95打头、京FP等以及部分“京CZ”等，属于副部级还有一些厅局级离退休干部。另外有些“京A5”的车是北京市委市政府的。这些车辆同样属于“特权车辆”。

一般来说，北京的交警和一些经验丰富的老司机，遇到以上号牌的车辆都会敬而远之，给予适当的方便。

Being a traffic policeman in Beijing is not easy --- because you have to know a lot of underlying rules. In the heartland of this country, behind a number plate there may be a dignitary. Being a traffic policeman, you should be smart enough to detect these “powerful” vehicles, and give them space...

The “powerful plates” look the same as normal plates. However, all the secrets are hiding behind the numbers.

Before we start, let’s introduce the format of the number plates in Beijing. A Beijing license plate is composed of a Chinese character “京", which is the abbreviation of Beijing, an English letter and a series of numbers (or letters and numbers). For example: “京F 31313” or “京A F2345”.”

Source: http://zhexie.net/node/45

The most powerful --- “京AG6”

There are exactly 200 license plates that start with “京A G6”. This number group belongs to the Vice Chairmen of the National People’s Congress, the vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and so on. Normally you can only find these kind of plates on Audi A6, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which are widely used by the Chinese government as official cars.

The secundi --- “京A8”

It is second only to “京AG6”. The most powerful ones among them are “京A80***,” “京A 81***”, and “京A 82***”, which belong to General Office of the CPC Central Committee, Bureau of Institutional Affairs of the State Council, Central Guard Bureau and Beijing Municipal Party Committee. Some ministers and the family members of national leaders also use this number series, and it makes this series of numbers more “powerful”. Recently, since the shortage of numbers, “京A83***” was also taken in to this “powerful number group”.

It is also worth mentioning that, because Chinese people love the number 8 (it sounds like “Fa”, meaning earning big money), the person who can get “京A88” is either powerful or has “strong connections” with powerful people. So for traffic policemen, it means the same as “京A80, 81, 82, and 83”.

There is another series of numbers, “京O A7***”, which belongs to some ministers; and “京O A8***”, which belongs to The Ministry of Public Security. They are both “powerful” as well.

The third level
License plates starting with “京ET, 京EX, 京H95, 京FP”, and some starting with “京CZ”, belong to deputy ministry level officials or provincial rank officials. And some of “京A5” belong to the Communist Party Committee of Beijing.

Generally, the traffic policemen and experienced drivers know these rules. They will always try to make life easier for these “powerful vehicles” and make them happy by politely keeping their distance.