RULES FOR NUMBER PLATES

The number plates on your vehicle must:

• be made from a reflective material
• display black characters on a white background (front plate)
• display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
• not have a background pattern
• be marked to show who supplied the number plate
• be marked with a British Standard number - this is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021

The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black.

Your number plates can also:

• have 3D (raised) characters
• display certain flags, symbols and identifiers
• display a green flash, if you have a zero-emission vehicle

IF YOU RIDE A MOTORBIKE OR MOTOR TRICYCLE

Motorcycles and motor tricycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle.

If you ride a motorbike or motor tricycle registered before 1 September 2001 you can also display a number plate at the front, but you do not have to.

Motorcycle and motor tricycle number plate numbers should be on 2 lines.

TOWING A TRAILER

If your trailer needs to be registered to go abroad, you need to fix the trailer registration plate to the back, as well as the towing vehicle’s number plate.

Fix the trailer registration plate as far away as possible from the towing vehicle’s number plate.

LETTER SPACING, SIZE AND STYLE

The characters on a number plate need to be a certain height and size.

Read leaflet INF104: vehicle registration numbers and number plates - height and size measurement, for more information.

If you have a trailer, read leaflet INF291: trailer registration numbers and number plates.

If you cannot fix the trailer registration plate on the back of your trailer, fix it to both sides instead. Make sure they’re clearly visible.

 

WHAT IS THE LEGISLATION WITH REGARDS TO 3D GEL OR 4D PLATES?

In short, they are completely legal. From September 2021 rules changed which meant any new plates printed from September 2021 could not use the old British Standards code (BSAU 145d) which was replaced by the new British Standards code (BSAU 145e).

What does this mean for you?

There was a lot of controversy caused by the spread of misinformation on various social media platforms where it was claimed 3D Gel and 4D Plates were to be banned, however this is not the case. The main confusion was caused by a statement which said 3D printed plates were to be stopped from September 2021. The ambiguity of this statement meant that many translated this in a way where 3D Gel and 4D plates would fall under this category.

The ruling is actually that the face and sides of the character has to be one shade of black, therefore the use of shading to cause a 3D effect is no longer permitted (see example below).   

3D Gel, 4D and 4D Gel all meet the criteria of using one shade of black and therefore are permitted to be used.

The uncertainty created led to a petition to stop the supposed ban of 3D Gel and 4D plates which received a government response from the Department for Transport. See below an extract of the official response and a link to the official response.

'The new British Standard for retroreflective number plates does not state that number plates with raised characters, including 3D gel and 4D number plates, will not be permitted.

It is a requirement under the current British Standard that the entire surface of the characters of the registration number must be black. This also includes all sides of the characters; the use of different coloured or clear sides is not permitted. Under the new British Standard, new number plates fitted from 1 September 2021 will also no longer be legal to utilise different shades of black to create 3D effects. The new standard also specifies that the characters of the registration number must not be removable.'

Please click here for the official response to the petition.

 

CAN I HAVE THE EURO FLAG ON MY PLATE?

Before Brexit, or January 2021, it was perfectly legal for UK cars to have EU flags on their registrations, as we were part of the EU.

But from January 2021, this will not be the case because of the UK leaving the European Union.

If you have a registration from before January 2021, then you don't need to worry about anything, as the rule only applies to plates manufactured AFTER December 31st, 2020.

However, so you're not feeling left out, you can swap your EU flagged number plates. However, it's NOT mandatory unless they were purchased after December 31st 2020.