LIST OF INTERNATIONAL LICENSE PLATE CODES

This is a 'list of vehicle country identification codes:'

Contents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Old Codes Reference A
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
A	Austria	1910
AFG	Afghanistan	1971
AG	Antigua and Barbuda
AL	Albania	1934
AND	Andorra	1957
ANG	Angola	1975	PAN: 1932-1957, P: 1957-1975
ARK ★	Antarctica
ARM	Armenia	1992	SU
ARU ★	Aruba		NA
AUS	Australia	1954
AX	Åland	2002	SF
AXA	Anguilla
AZ	Azerbaijan	1992	SU
B
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
B	Belgium	1910
RB	Benin	1991	RPB	until 1991: République Populaire du Bénin
BD	Bangladesh	1978	PAK
BDS	Barbados	1956
BF	Burkina Faso	1984	RHV / HV	until August 2003, 1984: (République(de))Haute Volta (Upper Volta)
BG	Bulgaria	1910
BZ	Belize	1938-1980s	BH	until 1973, British Honduras
BHT	Bhutan
BIH	Bosnia-Herzegovina	1992	YU	Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosn.)
BOL	Bolivia	1967
BR	Brazil	1930
BRN	Bahrain	1954
BRU	Brunei	1956
BS	Bahamas	1950
BU	Burundi	1962	RU	until 1962: part of former Belgian-mandated UN territory of Ruanda-Urundi
BY	Belarus	1992	SU	Беларусь (formerly Byelorussia)
C
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
C	Cuba	1930
CAM	Cameroon	1952	F & WAN
CGO	Democratic Republic of the Congo	1997	CB,RCL,CGO,ZR,ZRE	Belgian Congo, Rép.de Congo (Léopoldville, Congo(Kinshasa),Zaire
CDN	Canada	1956	CA
CH	Switzerland	1911		Confœderatio Helvetica (Latin)
CI	Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	1961	F
CL	Sri Lanka	1961		formerly Ceylon
CO	Colombia	1952
COM	Comoros		F
CR	Costa Rica	1956
CV	Cape Verde	1975	P
CY	Cyprus	1932
CZ	Czech Republic	1993	CS
D
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
D	Germany	1910		''Deutschland'' (Germ.)
DJI	Djibouti		F
DK	Denmark	1914
DOM	Dominican Republic	1952
DY	Benin	1910	Part of AOF (Afrique Occidentale Francais)-1960	formerly Dahomey-1976
DZ	Algeria	1962	F-1911	Al Djazaïr (Arab.)
E
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
E	Spain	1910		España (Span.)
EAK	Kenya	1938		East Africa Kenya
EAT	Tanzania	1938		East Africa Tanzania
EAU	Uganda	1938		East Africa Uganda
EC	Ecuador	1962
ER	Eritrea	1993	AOI -1941	Africa Orientale Italiana (It.)
ES	El Salvador	1978
EST	Estonia	1993	EW 1919-40 & 1991-93, SU 1940-91	1940-91 part of Soviet Union
ET	Egypt	1927
ETH	Ethiopia	1964	AOI -1941	Africa Orientale Italiana (It.)
F
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
F	France	1910
FIN	Finland	1993	SF	SF from "Suomi – Finland" (Finnish/Swedish)
FJI	Fiji	1971
FL	Liechtenstein	1923		Fürstentum Liechtenstein (Germ.)
FO	Faroes	1996	FR	Sometimes FØ or Fø
FSM	Federated States of Micronesia
G
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
G	Gabon	1974	ALEF - 1960	Afrique Equatorial Francais
GB	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1910		Before 1922 it was used for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
GBA	Alderney	1924		Great Britain - Alderney
GBG	Guernsey	1924		Great Britain - Guernsey
GBJ	Jersey	1924		Great Britain - Jersey
GBM	Isle of Man	1932		Great Britain - Man
GBZ	Gibraltar	1924		Great Britain - Gibraltar [Z was assigned as G was already used for Guernsey]
GCA	Guatemala	1956		Guatemala Central America
GE	Georgia	1992	SU	Soviet Union
GH	Ghana	1959	WAC-1957	West Africa Gold Coast - 1957
GW, RGB	Guinea-Bissau	1974	P	Portuguese Guinea - 1974. República da Guiné-Bissau
GQ ★	Equatorial Guinea		E	Spanish Guinea - 1968
GR	Greece	1913
GUY	Guyana	1972	BRG	formerly British Guiana - 1966
H
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
H	Hungary	1910
HK	Hong Kong	1932
HN	Honduras
HR	Croatia	1992	SHS 1919-29, Y 1929-53, YU 1953-92	Hrvatska (Croat.)
I
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
I	Italy	1910
IL	Israel	1952
IND	India	1947
IR	Iran	1936
IRL	Republic of Ireland	1962	EIR-1938, SE-1924, GB-1910
IRQ	Iraq	1930
IS	Iceland	1936		Ísland (Iceland.)
J
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
J	Japan	1964
JA	Jamaica	1932
HKJ	Jordan	JOR	Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
K
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
K	Cambodia	1956	F - 1949	Kampuchea 1976-89
KAN ★	Saint Kitts and Nevis
KN	Greenland		GRO	Kalaallit Nunaat
KS	Kyrgyzstan	1992	SU-1991	formerly Kirgizia S.S.R. - 1991
KIR	Kiribati			formerly the Gilbert, Line & Phoenix Islands - 1975. Part of the Gilbert & Ellice Islands Colony.
KP	North Korea			Korea, Democratic People’s Republic
KSA	Saudi-Arabia			Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia
KWT	Kuwait	1954
KZ	Kazakhstan	1992	SU - 1991
L
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
L	Luxembourg	1911
LAO	Laos	1959	F - 1949	formerly part of French Indo-China - 1949
LAR ★	Libya	1972	I - 1949, LT	Libyan Arab Republic
LB ★	Liberia	1967
LS	Lesotho	1967	BL	Basutoland - 1966
LT	Lithuania	1992	SU
LV	Latvia	1992	SU
M
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
M	Malta	1966	GBY 1924-66
MA	Morocco	1924		Maroc, El Maghreb
MAL	Malaysia	1967	FM - 1957, PTM 1957-67	formerly Federated Malay States, then Perseketuan Tanah Malayu
MAN	Isle of Man	1910
MC	Monaco	1910
MD	Moldova	1992	SU - 1991
MNE	Montenegro	2006	MN - 1913-1919, SHS 1919-29, Y 1929-53, YU 1953-2003, SCG 2003-2006
MEX	Mexico	1952
MGL	Mongolia
MH	Marshall Islands
MK	Macedonia	1992	YU - 1992
MOC	Mozambique	1975	MOC: 1932-56, P: 1957-75	Moçambique
MS	Mauritius	1938
MV ★	Maldives
MW	Malawi	1965	EA 1932-38, NP - 1938-70, RNY option 1960-65	formerly The Nyasaland Protectorate
MYA	Myanmar	1989	BUR-89
N
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
N	Norway	1922
NA	Netherlands Antilles	1957
NAM	Namibia	1990	SWA	South-West Africa
NAU	Nauru	1968
NC	New Caledonia
NEP ★	Nepal	1970
NIC	Nicaragua	1952
NL	Netherlands	1910
NZ	New Zealand	1958
O
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
OM	Oman
P
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
P	Portugal	1910
PA	Panama	1952
PAK	Pakistan	1947
PAL	Palau			formerly part of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands - 1980
PE	Peru	1937
PL	Poland	1921
PMR ★	Transnistria	1990	SU-1991, MD 1991	PMR stands for the initials of Приднестровская Молдавская Република (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic), the full name of Transnistria
PNG ★	Papua-New Guinea	1978
PS	Palestinian Authority
PY	Paraguay	1952
PR	Puerto Rico
Q
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
Q	Qatar	1972
R
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
RA	Argentina	1927		República Argentina (Span.)
RB	Botswana	1967		Republic of Botswana
RC	Republic of China (Taiwan)	1932		Republic of China (Taiwan)
RCA	Central African Republic	1962		République Centrafricaine (French)
RCB	Republic of the Congo	1962		République du Congo Brazzaville (Fr.)
RCH	Chile	1930		República de Chile (Span.)
RG	Guinea	1972		République de Guinée (Fr.)
RH	Haiti	1952		République d'Haïti (Fr.)
RI	Indonesia	1955		Republik Indonesia (Indones.)
RIM	Mauritania	1964		République islamique de Mauritanie (Fr.)
RL	Lebanon	1952		République Libanaise (Fr.)
RM	Madagascar	1962		République de Madagascar(Fr.)Formerly Malagasy Republic 1970-79
RMM	Mali	1962	AOF-60	République du Mali (Fr.) Formerly French Sudan - 1960
RN	Niger	1977	AOF - 1960	République du Niger (Fr.) Formerly part of French West Africa (Afrique Occidentale Française - 1960)
RO	Romania	1981	R
ROK	Korea	1971		Republic of Korea
ROU	Uruguay	1979		República Oriental del Uruguay (Span.)
RP	Philippines	1975		Republic of the Philippines
RSM	San Marino	1932		Repubblica di San Marino (It.)
RT	Togo	1960	TT, TG	Republique Togolaise (French.)formerly French Togoland - 1960
RUS	Russia	1992	SU-91
RWA	Rwanda	1964	RU-62	formerly part of Ruanda-Urundi - 1962
S
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
S	Sweden	1911
SA	Saudi Arabia	1973
SRB	Serbia	2006	SB - 1919, SHS 1919-29, Y 1929-53, YU 1953-2003, SCG 2003-2006
SD	Swaziland	1935
SGP	Singapore	1952
SK	Slovakia	1993	CS
SLE ★	Sierra Leone	2002		officially WAL; SLE is only used on local licence plates, written below the national flag
SLO	Slovenia	1992	SHS 1919-29, Y 1929-53, YU 1953-92
SME	Suriname	1936
SMOM	Sovereign Military Order of Malta
SN	Senegal	1962
SO	Somalia	1974
SOL	Solomon Islands
STP	São Tomé and Príncipe	1975	P
SUD ★	Sudan	1963
SY	Seychelles	1938
SYR	Syria	1952
T
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
T	Thailand	1955
TCH ★	Chad	1973		Tchad (French.)
TG ★	Togo	1973		SEE RT
TJ	Tajikistan	1992	SU
TL	Timor-Leste (East Timor)		P, RI
TM	Turkmenistan	1992	SU - 1991
TN	Tunisia	1957	F - 1956
TO	Tonga
TR	Turkey	1935
TS	Free Territory of Trieste	1947		Until 1954
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	1964
TUV	Tuvalu			formerly the Ellice Islands-75 (Gilbert & Ellice)
U
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
UA	Ukraine	1992	SU
UAE	United Arab Emirates
USA	United States of America	1952		Correctly used by U.S.-registered vehicles abroad. Today, U.S.-owned vehicles registered in Europe use the licence plate code of the country in which they are located.
UZ	Uzbekistan	1992	SU
V
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
V	Vatican City	1931	Vanuatu
VN	Vietnam	1953
W
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
WAG	The Gambia	1932		West Africa Gambia
WAL	Sierra Leone	1937		West Africa Sierra Leone; on local licence plates SLE is used
WAN	Nigeria	1937		West Africa Nigeria
WD	Dominica	1954		Windward Islands Dominica
WG	Grenada	1932		Windward Islands Grenada
WL	Saint Lucia	1932		Windward Islands Saint Lucia
WS	Samoa	1962		formerly Western Samoa
WSA ★	Western Sahara	1932	SE - 1976	formerly Spanish Sahara (Sahara Español), mostly occupied by Morocco (MA), some territory administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
WV	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	1932		Windward Islands Saint Vincent
Y
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
YEM	Yemen			Formerly YAR (Yemen Arab Republic)
YV	Venezuela
Z
Code	Country	From	Before	Notes
Z	Zambia	1966
ZA	South Africa	1936		Zuid Afrika (Dutch)
ZW	Zimbabwe	1977

; 'Note'
:
★ Non-official

Old Codes

Code	Country	Till	After	Notes
ADN	Aden	1967	Y
BP	Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana	1966	RB
BUR	Burma	1989	MYA
CS	Czechoslovakia	1992	CZ / SK
DA	Free City of Danzig	1939	1939-1945:D, since 1945: PL
DDR	German Democratic Republic	1989	D	Deutsche Demokratische Republik
EW	Estonia	1993	EST	Eesti Vabariik (Estn.)
FR	Faroes	1996	FO
GRO	Greenland		KN
HV	Haute Volta, now Burkina Faso	1984	BF
LR	Latvia	1927-1940	SU, LV	Latvijas Republika (Latv.)
R	Romania	1981	RO
RSR	Southern Rhodesia	1960-1979	ZW	Now Zimbabwe
RNR	Northern Rhodesia		Z	Now Zambia
RNY	Rhodesia-Nyasaland Fed.		MW	Now Malawi
SA	Saarland	1956	D	also D between 1935 and 1945
SB	Serbia	1919	SHS	Serbia became part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
SCG	Serbia and Montenegro	2006	MNE, SRB	Now Montenegro, Serbia
SF	Finland	1993	FIN	SF from "Suomi – Finland" (the names of the country in both of its official languages, Finnish and Swedish)
SHS	Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes	1929	Y	Kingdom changed its name to Yugoslavia
SU	Soviet Union	1991	EST, LT, LV, BY, MD, UA, TJ, TUR, GE, KZ, UZ, KS, AZ, ARM, RUS
SWA	South West Africa	1990	NAM	Namibia
Y	Yugoslavia	1953	YU	Yemen started using 'Y' afterwards
YU	Yugoslavia	2003	BIH, HR, MK, MNE, SRB, SLO	Now Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia
ZRE	Zaire	1997	CB

; 'Note1' : There are other, unofficial codes in common use, such as "BZH" for Brittany, "CYM" for Wales, "VL" for Flanders, "NI" for Northern Ireland, "V" for Vojvodina/Vajdaság and "CD" for "Corps Diplomatique". These often signify places which are not internationally recognised as independent states. See http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/where/unoff.htm for a list of some of these.
; 'Note2' : Some license plates even tell us from which part of the country they are originating from. See http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/where/where.htm for these origins.

Reference

★ UN Economic Commission for Europe, Working Party on Road Transport (WP.11)

★ Memorize the Diplomatic License Plate codes (Addictive Learning)