With the advent of the European Union crossing country borders became increasingly easy, nowadays you sometimes are not even aware that you are indeed crossing one. So while previously customs officers could (but would not always) check whether an oval plate is present, currently you can cross borders in many cases without an oval plate. And you can even quite frequently find vehicles that do carry an oval plate that does not match the country of origin. So the EU issued a directive that nationality marks should in the future form part of the plate in the form of a blue band with the EU logo at the top and the country marks in white below it. Quite a few EU countries are already implementing this. More amazing, also some non-EU countries are implementing a similar scheme: Hungary (at the left the Hungarian flag and the letter H below it, still black on white) and the Isle of Man (at the left a red band with the three-legged wheel and in white the letters GBM below it). So it can be assumed that in the future, at least in Europe, the oval plates will give way to nationality marks on the plates, and in that case both at the rear end and at the front end.
Below you will find a table with all national oval plates that have been used according to my literature. Starting and ending years are given, but they are mostly approximate, and sometimes not so very approximate even (note the question marks). In some cases I have no idea at all, in that case no year is given but a question mark. Note that some countries changed mark at some point of time. You must not be surprised to find that the old marks are used quite a few years longer than indicated, and indeed even just now. Further, starting years are not always the year the mark is first used, but sometimes the year it became first official (see DDR). In addition you must be aware that there are vehicles with a mark not on this list (I have seen ECO and SCO for Scotland and FR for Friesland in the Netherlands). Those are definitely not official. Note also that some marks indicate the political stateform, whenever this changes you might find a change of mark!
For the marks that are not immediately clear I have given an indication how it was derived. Still I do not know all, please send me information about those I do not know: RMM for Mali (what is the second M) and YV for Venezuela (where does the Y come from?).
Note: not all native charactes can be rendered in ISO 8859-1, even when Latin script is used. Whenever this occurred I have rendered it first in an approximation and next using some HTML escape (see NDH) that is clearly undefined. In the future (with Unicode emerging) I hope this will be less of a problem.
Note: there is also a separate file for European countries only which gives access to more specific information for some countries.
| A | Austria (1910-) | |
| ABW | Aruba (?-) | |
| ADN | Peoples Democratic Yemen (Aden, 1938-?, see YE) | |
| AFG | Afghanistan (1971-) | |
| AL | Albania (1934-) | |
| AM | Armenia (?-) | |
| AN | Angola (?-) | |
| AND | Andorra (1957-) | |
| ANT | Antigua (?-) | |
| AS | Saudi Arabia (Al-Arabiya Al Saudiya, ?-74, see SA) | |
| ASM | American Samoa (?-) | |
| AUS | Australia (1954-) | |
| AZ | Azerbaijan (?-) | |
| B | Belgium (1910-) | |
| BA | Burma (1937-56, see BUR) | |
| BD | Bangla Desh (1978-) | |
| BDS | Barbados (1956-) | |
| BG | Bulgaria (1910-) | |
| BH | Belize (British Honduras, 1938-?, see BZ) | |
| BI | British India (1912-47, see IND and PAK) | |
| BiH | Bosnia and Herzegovina (?-) | |
| BL | Basutoland (1935-67, see LS) | |
| BM | Bermuda (?-) | |
| BOL | Bolivia (1967?-) | |
| BP | Bophuthatswana (Bechuanaland Protectorate) (1935-67, see ZA) | |
| BR | Brazil (1930-) | |
| BRG | British Guyana (1954-72, see GUY) | |
| BRN | Bahrain (1954-) | |
| BRU | Brunei (1956-) | |
| BS | British Somaliland (1935-66?, see SP) | |
| BS | Bahamas (1950-) | |
| BT | Bhutan (?-) | |
| BUR | Myanmar (Burma, 1956-) | |
| BVI | British Virgin Islands (?-) | |
| BY | Belarus (Byelorussia, 1992-) | |
| BZ | Belize (?-) | |
| C | Cuba (1930-) | |
| CA | Canada (1952?-56, see CDN) | |
| CAM | Cameroon (1953?-82?, see RUC) | |
| CB | Belgian Congo (Congo Belge, 1931-60, see KAT, RCL and RU) | |
| CDN | Canada (Candanian DominioN, 1956-) | |
| CFS | French Somaliland (Côte Française des Somalis, ?-?, see SO) | |
| CGO | Congo Kinshasa (1970?-72, see ZR) | |
| CH | Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica, 1911-) | |
| CI | Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire, 1961-) | |
| CL | Sri Lanka (Ceylon, 1932-) | |
| CN | People's Republic of China (?-) | |
| CNB | Borneo (Colony of North Borneo, 1955-63, see PTM) | |
| CO | Colombia (1952-) | |
| CPV | Cape Verde Islands (?-) | |
| CR | Costa Rica (1956-) | |
| CS | Czechoslovakia (1922-?, see CZ and SK) | |
| CU | Curacao (1936-57, see NA) | |
| CY | Cyprus (1932-) | |
| CZ | Czechia (?-) | |
| D | Germany (1910-) | |
| DA | Danzig (1922-39, see D) | |
| DDR | East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, 1974-89, see D) | |
| DK | Danmark (1914-) | |
| DOM | Dominican Republic (1952-) | |
| DY | Benin (Dahomey, 1961-78?, see RPB) | |
| DZ | Algeria (Al Djazair, 1963-) | |
| E | Spain (España, 1910-) | |
| EA | British East Africa (1932-38, see EAK, EAN, EAT, EAU and EAZ) | |
| EAK | Kenya (East Africa Kenya, 1938-78?, see KE) | |
| EAN | Nyasaland (East Africa Nyasaland) (1938-38, see NP) | |
| EAT | Tanzania (East Africa Tanganyika, 1938-) | |
| EAU | Uganda (East Africa Uganda, 1938-) | |
| EAZ | Tanzania (East Africa Zanzibar, 1938-64, see EAT) | |
| EC | Ecuador (1962-) | |
| EIR | Ireland (Éire, 1938-62, see IRL) | |
| EQ | Ecuador (Equador, 1952-62, see EC) | |
| ES | El Salvador (1978?-) | |
| ET | Egypt (1927-) | |
| ETH | Ethiopia (1964-) | |
| EW | Estonia (Eesti Vabariik, German spelling variant before spelling reform, 1930-40 + 1991-) | |
| F | France (1910-) | |
| FIF | French India (France Inde Français, 1925-30, see BI) | |
| FIN | Finland (1993-) | |
| FJI | Fiji (1971-) | |
| FL | Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein, 1923-) | |
| FLK | Falkland Islands (?-) | |
| FM | Federated Malay States (1932-58, see MAL) | |
| FR | Faroe Islands (1976-) | |
| G | Guatemala (1952-56, see GCA) | |
| G | Gabon (1974-) | |
| GB | United Kingdom (Great Britain, 1910-) | |
| GBA | United Kingdom: Alderney (1924-) | |
| GBG | United Kingdom: Guernsey (1924-) | |
| GBJ | United Kingdom: Jersey (1924-) | |
| GBM | United Kingdom: Isle of Man (1932-) | |
| GBY | United Kingdom: Malta (1924-66, see M) | |
| GBZ | United Kingdom: Gibraltar (1924-) | |
| GCA | Guatemala (Guatemala Central America, 1956-) | |
| GE | Georgia (1992-) | |
| GF | French Guyana (Guyana Française, ?-) | |
| GH | Ghana (1959-) | |
| GM | Guam (?-) | |
| GR | Greece (1913-) | |
| GRL | Greenland (?-) | |
| GUY | Guyana (1972-) | |
| H | Hungary (1910-) | |
| HK | Hong Kong (1932-) | |
| HKJ | Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1966-) | |
| HO | Honduras (?-) | |
| HR | Croatia (Hrvatska, ?-) | |
| HV | Upper Volta (Haute Volta, 1961-78?, see RHV) | |
| I | Italy (1910-) | |
| IL | Israel (1952-) | |
| IN | Dutch Indies/Indonesia (1930-55, see RI) | |
| IND | India (1947-) | |
| IR | Iran (1936-) | |
| IRL | Ireland (1962-) | |
| IRQ | Iraq (1930-) | |
| IS | Iceland (Ísland, 1936-) | |
| J | Japan (1964-) | |
| JA | Jamaica (1932-) | |
| JO | Johore (1932-48, see FM) | |
| JOR | Jordan (1955-66, see HKJ) | |
| K | Kampuchea (1956-) | |
| KAT | Katanga (1960-62, see ZR) | |
| KAZ | Kazakhstan (1992-) | |
| KD | Kedah (1932-48, see FM) | |
| KE | Kenya (1978?-) | |
| KIR | Kiribati (?-) | |
| KGZ | Kyrgyz Republic (1992-) | |
| KL | Kelantan (1932-48, see FM) | |
| KO | Korea (north, ?-) | |
| KT | Kuwait (1952?-54, see KWT) | |
| KWT | Kuwait (1954-) | |
| L | Luxembourg (1911-) | |
| LAO | Laos (1959-) | |
| LAR | Libya (Libian Arab Republic, 1972-) | |
| LB | Liberia (1967-) | |
| LR | Latvia (Latvija Republik, 1927-40, see SU) | |
| LS | Lesotho (1967-) | |
| LSA | Lebanon, Syria & Alaouites (1929-31, see SL) | |
| LT | Libya (Tripolitania) (1960-71, see LAR) | |
| LT | Lithuania (1925-40 + 1991-) | |
| LV | Latvia (1991-) | |
| M | Israel (Palestine Mandate/Medinat Ysrael, 1930-48, see IL) | |
| M | Malta (1966-) | |
| MA | Morocco (Al Magrib, 1924-) | |
| MAC | Macao (?-) | |
| MAL | Malaysia (1967-) | |
| MAR | Martinique (?-) | |
| MC | Monaco (1910-) | |
| MD | Moldova (1992-) | |
| ME | Spanish Morocco (Marruecos Español, 1935-52, see MA) | |
| MEX | Mexico (1952-) | |
| MK | Macedonia (?-) | |
| MN | Montenegro (1913-18, see Y) | |
| MNG | Mongolia (?-) | |
| MOC | Mocambique (1932-56 + 1975-) | |
| MS | Mauritius (1938-) | |
| MT | Tanger (Morocco Tanger, 1933-56, see MA) | |
| MU | Mauritania (?-64, see RIM) | |
| MW | Malawi (1965-) | |
| N | Norway (1922-) | |
| NA | Dutch Antilles (Netherlands Antilles, 1957-) | |
| NAU | Nauru (1968?-) | |
| NDH | Croatia (Nesavisna Država Hrvatska, 1941-45, see Y) | |
| NEP | Nepal (1970?-) | |
| NF | New Foundland (1938-49, see CA) | |
| NGN | Netherlands New Guinea (1955-63, see RI) | |
| NIC | Nicaragua (1952-) | |
| NIG | Niger (1961-80, see RN) | |
| NL | The Netherlands (1910-) | |
| NP | Nyasaland (Nyasaland Protectorate, 1938-60, see RNY) | |
| NR | Northern Rodesia (1938-60, see RNR) | |
| NZ | New Zealand (1958-) | |
| OM | Oman (?-) | |
| P | Portugal (1912-) | |
| PA | Panama (1952-) | |
| PAK | Pakistan (1947-?, see PK) | |
| PAN | Angola (Portuguese Angola, 1932-56, see AN) | |
| PE | Peru (1937-) | |
| PI | Phillippines (Pilipinas, 1952-78?, see RP) | |
| PK | Pakistan (?-) | |
| PL | Poland (1921-) | |
| PNG | Papua New Guinea (1978?-) | |
| PR | Persia (1933-36, see IR) | |
| PR | Puerto Rico (?-?, see USA) | |
| PS | Perlis (1933-48, see FM) | |
| PTM | Malaysia (Persekutuan Tanah Malaysia, 1958-67, see MAL) | |
| PY | Paraguay (1952-) | |
| Q | Qatar (1972-) | |
| R | Russia (1910-26, see SU) | |
| R | Romania (1930-81, see RO) | |
| RA | Argentina (Republica Argentina, 1927-) | |
| RB | Bolivia (Republica Bolivia, 1963-67, see BOL) | |
| RB | Botswana (Republic Botswana, 1967-) | |
| RC | Taiwan (Republic China, 1932-) | |
| RCA | Central African Republic (République Centrafricain, 1962-) | |
| RCB | Congo Brazzaville (République Congo Brazzaville, 1962-) | |
| RCH | Chile (Republica Chili, 1930-) | |
| RCL | Congo Leopoldville (République Congo Leopoldville) (1960-70?, see CGO) | |
| RE | Réunion (?-) | |
| RFC | Cameroon (République Federale du Cameroun, ?-) | |
| RG | Guinea (République de Guinée, 1972?-) | |
| RH | Haiti (République Haiti, 1952-) | |
| RHV | Burkina Faso (République Haute Volta, 1978?-) | |
| RI | Indonesia (Republic Indonesia, 1955-) | |
| RIM | Mauritania (République Islamique de Mauritanie, 1964-) | |
| RL | Lebanon (Republic Lebanon, 1952-) | |
| RM | Romania (1912-30, see R) | |
| RM | Malagasy (Repoblika Demokratika Malagasy, 1962-) | |
| RMM | Mali (origin unknown, 1962-) | |
| RN | Niger (Republic Niger, 1978?-) | |
| RNR | Zambia (Republic North Rhodesia, 1960-66, see Z) | |
| RNY | Nyasaland (Republic Nyasaland, 1960-65, see MW) | |
| RO | Romania (1981-) | |
| ROK | South Korea (Republic of south Korea, 1971-) | |
| ROU | Uruguay (Republic of Uruguay, 1978?-) | |
| RP | Phillippines (Republica Pilipinas, 1975-) | |
| RPB | Benin (République Populaire du Bénin, 1978?-) | |
| RSM | Republic of San Marino (1932-) | |
| RSR | Zimbabwe (Republic South Rhodesia, 1960-79, see ZM) | |
| RU | Burundi (Ruanda Urundi, 1960-) | |
| RUC | Cameroon (République Unie du Cameroun, 1982?-?, see RFC) | |
| RUS | Russia (RU also does occur, 1992-) | |
| RWA | Ruanda (1964-) | |
| S | Sweden (1911-) | |
| SA | Saarland (1925-35 + 1945-56, see D) | |
| SA | Saudi Arabia (1972?-) | |
| SAU | South Africa (Suid Afrikaanse Unie, 1933-36, see ZA) | |
| SB | Serbia (1911-18, see SHS) | |
| SCV | Vatican City (Stato della Citta Vatican, ?-?, see V) | |
| SD | Ngwana (Swaziland, 1935-) | |
| SE | Ireland (Saorstát Éireann, 1924-38, see EIR) | |
| SF | Finland (Suomi/Finland, 1921-93, see FIN) | |
| SGP | Singapore (1952-) | |
| SHS | Yugoslavia (Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, 1926-36, see Y) | |
| SK | Serawak (1955-63, see PTM) | |
| SK | Slovakia (SQ also does occur, ?-) | |
| SL | Syria and Lebanon (1931-52, see SYR and RL) | |
| SLB | Solomon Islands (?-) | |
| SLO | Slovenia (?-) | |
| SM | Siam (1930-55, see T and VN) | |
| SME | Surinam (1936-) | |
| SN | Senegal (1962-) | |
| SNB | State of North Borneo (1938-55, see CNB) | |
| SO | Slovakia (1939-45, see CS) | |
| SO | Somalia (1972?-) | |
| SP | Somalia (Somaliya Protectorate, 1966?-72?, see SO) | |
| SR | South Rodesia (1932-60, see RSR) | |
| SS | Straits Settlements (1932-52, see FM and SGP) | |
| SU | Soviet Union (1926-?, see ...) | |
| SUD | Sudan (1963-) | |
| SWA | Namibia (South West Africa, 1935-) | |
| SY | Seychelles (1938-) | |
| SYR | Syria (1952-) | |
| T | Thailand (1955-) | |
| TAD | Tadjikstan (1992-) | |
| TC | Cameroon (Trust de Cameroon, 1932-52, see CAM) | |
| TCH | Chad (Tchad, 1972?-) | |
| TD | Trinidad (1938-64, see TT) | |
| TG | Togo (1962-) | |
| TMN | Turkmenistan (1992-) | |
| TN | Tunisia (1957-) | |
| TO | Tonga (?-) | |
| TR | Turkey (1935-) | |
| TS | Trieste (1945-54, see I and YU) | |
| TT | Togo (Truste de Togo, 1932-62, see TG) | |
| TT | Trinidad and Tobago (1964-) | |
| TU | Trengganu (1935-48, see FM) | |
| U | Uruguay (?-78?, see ROU) | |
| UA | Ukraine (1992-) | |
| UAE | United Arab Emirates (?-) | |
| USA | United States of America (1952-) | |
| UZB | Uzbekistan (1992-) | |
| V | Vatican City (?-) | |
| VN | Viet Nam (1953-) | |
| WAC | Gold Coast (West Africa Gold Coast, 1932-59, see GH) | |
| WAG | Gambia (West Africa Gambia, 1932-) | |
| WAL | Sierra Leone (West Africa Sierra Leone, 1937-) | |
| WAN | Nigeria (West Africa Nigeria, 1937-) | |
| WD | Dominica (Windward islands Dominica, 1954-) | |
| WG | Granada (Windward islands Granada, 1932-) | |
| WL | St. Lucia (Windward islands St. Lucia, 1932-) | |
| WS | Western Samoa (1962-) | |
| WV | St. Vincent (Windward islands St. Vincent, 1932-) | |
| Y | Yugoslavia (1936-52, see YU) | |
| YE | Arab Republic of Yemen (?-) | |
| YAR | Yemen Arab Republic (1972?-?, see YE) | |
| YMN | Yemen (?-72?, see YAR) | |
| YU | Yugoslavia (1952-) | |
| YV | Venezuela (origin unknown, 1955-) | |
| Z | Zambia (1966-) | |
| ZA | Union of South Africa (Zuid Afrika, 1936-) | |
| ZM | Zimbabwe (1979-79, see ZW) | |
| ZR | Zaire (1973-80, see ZRE) | |
| ZRE | Zaire (1981-) | |
| ZW | Zimbabwe (1979-) |