Interesting Facts About License Plates From The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom first issued license plates back in 1904.   The early UK license plates were Silver on Black or White on Black and were replaced in 1972 by a black on Reflective White front license plate and a black on reflective yellow rear license plate. The Black series of UK license plates consisted of fonts nearly same as DIN 1451.  In 1972, the United Kingdom issued new license plates with a font created by Gareth Attrill.   This UK font is used in several countries like Jordan, and Brazil.  Although the UK font is highly visible, Automatic license plate readers and law enforcement have difficulty in recording the numbers.  The letter I and the Number 1 and the letter O and the number 0 are exactly the same! Her Majesty the Queen has no plates at all on all her official vehicles.   Her private vehicles, and those of the Royal Family, are issued normal series license plates. Military vehicles have registrations consisting of two numbers, two letters, and two numbers arranged in one, two or three lines.  Most military vehicles have retained the old color of white on a black plate format.  Active military vehicles have never been issues reflective license plates as a security counter measure.   A unified series of plates is now implemented for all three services of the United Kingdom military using the letters: KA   KB   KC etc.  The series 53 ER 01 to 53 ER 08 are used by the 20 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport for the Queen’s baggage transport.   The registration containing ER means “Elizabeth Regina” and the year of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation 1953.

1904 – 1971 UK LICENSE PLATES (DIN 1451 FONTS)

1972 – CURRENT UK LICENSE PLATES

Reflective White – Front license plate Reflective White – Front license plate  Reflective Yellow – Rear license plate Reflective Yellow – Rear license plate England, Scotland and Wales have special regional flags on their license plates.  Scotland issues a license plate with the Scottish Shield. Great Britain License Plates These plates are issued either with the European Union stars + GB or the Union Jack Flag + GB.  When the United Kingdom & Great Britain exits from the European Union (BREXIT), license plates with the European Union stars will no longer be issued. Images of Vehicles used by Britain’s Royal Family Queen Elizabeth’s Official Vehicle has no license plate (photo courtesy of www.driving.co.uk) Prince Charles’ private car is issued a normal or “commoner” license plate (photo courtesy of www.tempcover.com)   www.licenseplates.tv is the only store which offers all license plates from the United Kingdom (UK) or Great Britain with the correct colors and official UK fonts.