Vehicle Registration Plate - History

History

Licence plates have been around for longer than there have been automobiles. France was the first country to introduce the licence plate with the passage of the Paris Police Ordinance on August 14, 1893, followed by Germany in 1896. The Netherlands was the first country to introduce a national licence plate, called a "driving permit", in 1898. The first licences were plates with a number, starting at 1. By August 8, 1899 the counter was at 168. When the Netherlands chose a different way to number the plates on January 15, 1906 the last issued plate was 2001.

In the U.S., where each state issues plates, New York State has required plates since 1901. At first, plates were not government issued in most jurisdictions and motorists were obliged to make their own. In 1903, Massachusetts was the first state to issue plates.

The earliest plates were made out of porcelain baked onto iron or ceramic with no backing, which made them fragile and impractical. Few of these earliest plates survived. Later experimental materials include cardboard, leather, plastic and during wartime shortages copper and pressed soybeans.

Earlier plates varied in size and shape from one jurisdiction to the next, such that if one moved, new holes would need to be drilled into the bumper to support the new plate. Standardization of plates came in 1957, when automobile manufacturers came to agreement with governments and international standards organizations. While peculiar local variants still exist, there are three basic standards worldwide.

• 520 mm by 110 or 120 mm (20.5 by 4.5 inches) - in the bulk of European countries and many of their former overseas territories.
  • 440 mm by 120 mm (17 by 4.5 inches) - in South Africa.
  • 420 mm by 120 mm (16.5 by 4.5 inches) - Previously in Serbia.
• 372 mm by 135 mm (14.5 by 5.3 inches) - in Australia and some other Pacific Rim countries, about halfway between the dimensions of the other two standards, longer than Western Hemisphere plates but taller than European ones.
  • 360 mm by 125 mm (14.1 by 4.9 inches) - in New Zealand.
• 440 mm by 140 mm (17 by 5.5 inches) - in China.
• 400 mm by 130 mm (15.7 by 5.1 inches) - in Chile and Brazil.
• 300 mm by 150 or 160 mm (12 by 6 inches) - in the majority of the Americas and sometimes Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
  • 350 mm by 155 mm (13.7 by 6.1 inches) - in Uruguay.
  • 330 mm by 165 mm (13 by 6.5 inches) - in Japan.
  • 330 mm by 155 mm (13 by 6.1 inches) - in Korea.
  • 340 mm by 110 mm (12.7 by 4 inches) - Previously in Belgium.
  • 340 mm by 150 mm (12.7 by 6 inches) - in Thailand.
  • 320 mm by 150 mm (12.5 by 6 inches) - in Taiwan.

Countries with smaller front plates:

• 360 mm by 110 mm (14.1 by 4 inches) - Italy, Oman also uses same size in both front and rear plates.
• 300 mm by 80 mm (10.2 by 4.5 inches) - Switzerland and Liechtenstein
• 260 mm by 110 mm (10.2 by 4 inches) - Monaco
• 340 mm by 120 mm (12.7 by 4.5 inches) - Previously in Luxembourg (before 2003).