Vehicle registration plates of Sweden

Vehicle registration plates of Sweden are used for most types of vehicles and have three letters first and three digits after, if read from the left. The combination is simply a serial and has no connection with a geographic location, although the last digit shows what month the car has to undergo vehicle inspection. Vehicles like police cars, fire trucks, public buses and trolley buses use the same type of plate as normal private cars, and cannot be directly distinguished by the plate alone. Military vehicles have special plates.

Ordinary plates

The plate has a black text on a white background. It consists of three letters, a space followed by three digits. This space was formerly used for a taxation sticker. Above it the vehicle identification number is printed and above the last digit the date of plate manufacture. All vehicles must legally carry both a front and a rear plate except motorcycles, trailers (rear only), tractors and other off-road machinery (front only). The registration number is tied to the vehicle (VIN) and remains unchanged, even after change of ownership, until the vehicle is scrapped or exported. So it is possible to decommission a registered vehicle for any length of period. A decommissioned registered vehicle does not require road taxes or a valid insurance. The registration plate remains on the vehicle while decommissioned. Registration numbers of scrapped, exported and de-registered vehicles are put in quarantine before they are re-used with new registered vehicles.

The only possible coding to be seen by looking at the plate alone is when the vehicle must undergo inspection. The last digit of the plate denote this. Note that the months May and June are missing. This is to reduce the number of inspections for the summer months. A vehicle that doesn't undergo inspection within its period gets an automated failure and may not be driven on public roads.

Last digit coding

Last digit	Inspection month	Inspection period
1	January	November–March
2	February	December–April
3	March	January–May
4	April	February–June
5	July	May–September
6	August	June–October
7	September	July–November
8	October	August–December
9	November	September–January
0	December	October–February

Disallowed letters and combinations

All letters in the Swedish alphabet are used, except the letters I, Q, V, Å, Ä and Ö. 91 letter combinations are not used, since they may be offensive, political or otherwise unsuitable. Examples: APA (monkey), DUM (stupid), FAN (devil, damn), FEG (cowardly), FEL (error, wrong), FUL (ugly), GAY, HOT (threat), LAT (lazy), NRP (Nordiska Rikspartiet), OND (evil), SEX, SUP (snaps), TOA (toilet), UFO, USA, XXL (extra extra large) and many others. Also "WTC 911" was disallowed^{[citation needed]} due to the disaster in World Trade Center (WTC) on 9/11 2001 (911) as well as "WTC 119", because dates are read as day/month in Swedish. The road authority has made the list, which is larger than those in most other countries, to avoid requests to replace issued plate numbers once they are read as unacceptable, which would cause administrative problems.

Sizes and EU stripe

Plate	Size (mm)	Notes
Ordinary plate	480×111
EU stripe plate	520×111
"American" plate	300×111	Without EU stripe
Square MC plate	119x155	With or without EU stripe

Starting in the mid 1990s, smaller plates of 30×11 cm were offered for special applications where standard plates would not typically fit, e.g. American domestic market vehicles. These plates are made in a narrower typeface and without the EU-stripe. Up until then large, square plates were used for these applications; however, these were too large height-wise for some American cars, in which case motorcycle plates were issued instead. There is also a self-adhesive plastic 'plate' for use on snowmobiles, ATV's and similar, where the design of the vehicle can make it awkward to fit a real plate. The blue EU stripe was introduced in 2002, but it is up to the owner to decide whether or not they want it. This decision is usually made when buying a new car. However none of the special plates are available as EU plates, except the personal plate. Motorcycle owners have often changed plates since it's often hard to find a place for the oval "S"-sticker otherwise needed abroad.

Taxation sticker

All vehicles except taxis had to use a tax sticker (the sticker on the pictured plate is an interim sticker).

In the middle of the rear plate, a sticker had to be attached to allow driving. This sticker was sent to the owner when the tax and the liability insurance had been paid and the vehicle had been approved by the car test authority. Valid for one year, its colour varied with the year, and the clearly visible month number of expiry could easily be discerned by police. Since January 1, 2010, the tax sticker is abolished in Sweden.

Special plates

Personal plates

In addition to the standard registration number of three letters and three digits, you may have personal registration plates. The personal registration number works as an alias to the standard number, and can have (almost) any text or number combination with up to seven letters, if that isn't used already. It costs 6000 kr (about 640 €) to get personal number for a vehicle. It is valid for ten years and may be moved to another vehicle. The approval sticker is placed on the left, not in the middle. Too offensive or illegal text isn't allowed. For instance, the 64SALE number was not allowed, as the number 6 and the word "sex" are homonyms in Swedish. A sticker declaring the alias relationship between the standard number and the personal number must be attached in one of the vehicle's windows. On personal plates the above mentioned limitations in allowed letters (no I, Q, V, Å, Ä, Ö) does not apply.

Dealer

2003 series, dealer's plate.

Black text on green background. These plates are used on vehicles without registration, insurance and vehicles which have failed inspection. The dealers have reported their car not to be driven, meaning they don't have to pay tax. Cars can be parked for months awaiting sale. The cars can be used for short test drives, with this licence plate. Unlike normal Swedish license plates the dealer plate is not tied to any vehicle but to the plate owner. These plates can also be used by car manufacturers for test vehicles. The plate has a sticker indicating if the plate is for cars, trucks or trailers. The plate shows that the owner has a special insurance to cover for test drives.

Diplomatic

2002 series, diplomatic.

Black text on blue background. It consists of two letters, three serial digits and a last letter. The first two letters shows which diplomatic mission the vehicle belongs to. The letters don't correspond to any country acronym e.g. American diplomats don't have US as their first two letters. It's ordered by the sovereign states' name in French language. Thus AA denotes South Africa i.e. Afrique du Sud. AB denotes Albania i.e. Albanie and so forth up until DT. The three digits is just a serial number. The last letter show what kind of task the diplomat has. The approval sticker is placed last. Just like the personal plates these vehicles have a standard format registration as well. Which means a re-registration is not needed if the vehicle changes owner.

Diplomatic mission (country) code

Code	Country	Notes
AA	South Africa	i.e. Afrique du Sud
AB	Albania
AC	Algeria
AD	Germany	i.e. Allemagne
AE	Not in use
AF	United states of America
AG	Angola
AH	Saudi Arabia
AI	Not in use	Letter I not used
AJ	Argentina
AK	Australia
AL	Austria
AM	Bangladesh
AN	Belgium
AO	Not in use
AP	Bolivia
AQ	Not in use	Letter Q not used
AR	Botswana
AS	Brazil
AT	Bulgaria
AU	Canada
AW	Chile
AX	China (PRC)
AY	Colombia
AZ	Korea (ROK)	South Korea
BA	Korea (DPRK)	North Korea
BB	Not in use
BC	Cuba
BD	Denmark
BE	Dominican Republic
BF	Egypt
BG	Ecuador
BH	Spain
BI	Not in use	Letter I not used
BJ	Ethiopia
BK	Finland
BL	France
BM	United Kingdom
BN	Greece
BO	Not in use
BP	Guatemala
BQ	Not in use	Letter Q not used
BR	Not in use
BS	Hungary
BT	India
BU	Indonesia
BW	Iraq
BX	Iran
BY	Ireland
BZ	Iceland
CA	Isreal
CB	Italy
CC	Japan
CD	Kenya
CE	Laos
CF	Lebanon
CG	Libya
CH	Malaysia
CI	Not in use	Letter I not used
CJ	Morocco
CK	Mexico
CL	Mozambique
CM	Nicaragua
CN	Nigeria
CO	Not in use
CP	Norway
CQ	Not in use	Letter Q not in use
CR	Not in use
CS	Pakistan
CT	Panama
CU	Netherlands
CW	Peru
CX	Philippines
CY	Poland
CZ	Portugal
DA	Romania
DB	Senegal
DC	Not in use
DD	Sri Lanka
DE	Switzerland
DF	Tanzania
DG	Czech Republic
DH	Thailand
DI	Not in use	Letter I not used
DJ	Tunisia
DK	Turkey
DL	Russia
DM	Uruguay
DN	Venezuela
DO	Not in use
DP	Vietnam
DQ	Not in use	Letter Q not in use
DR	Serbia
DS	Zambia
DT	Zimbabwe
DU	UNHCR	Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
DW	World Maritime University
DX	Nordic council
DY	Nambia
DZ	Sudan
EA	ESA	European Space Agency
EB	EU	European Union
EC	Burundi
ED	Estonia
EE	Latvia
EF	Lithuania
EG	Croatia
EH	Slovenia
EI	Not in use	Letter I not used
EJ	Slovakia
EK	Bosnia and Herzegovina
EL	Eritrea
EM	Ukraine
EN	Cyprus
EO	Not in use
EP	Republic of Macedonia
EQ	Not in use	Letter Q not used
ER	Kuwait
ES	Honduras
ET	Rwanda
EU	IDEA	International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
EW	Not in use
EX	Kap Verde
EY	CBSS	Council of the Baltic Sea States
EZ	Not in use
FA	Belarus
FB	Congo	Republic of the Congo
FC	El Salvador
FD	Syria
FE	GIWA	Global International Waters Assessment
FF	Apostolic Nunciature	Holy See
FG	Not in use
FH	GWP	Global Water Partnership
FI	Not in use	Letter I not used
FJ	United Arab Emirates
FK	Moldavia
FL	Georgia
FM	Azerbaijan
FN	New Zealand

Diplomatic status (last letter) code

Code	Diplomatic status	Notes
A	Ambassador
B	Embassy	Vehicles owned by the embassy
C	Diplomat
D	Administrative or technical staff
E	Consulate
F	Consul
G	Consulate staff
H	International organisation
I	International organisation staff

Taxi

2002 series, taxi plate.

Black text on yellow background. Taxis get yellow plates after they are approved. The plates has the same registration as the car had before it was a taxi. Thus if it's not used as taxi anymore or if the car or the Taximeter fails inspection the normal plates are put back on and the yellow ones are confiscated. The plates does not have an approval sticker but a smaller T indicating taxi in the right corner. If a car has personal plates and is going to be used as a taxi it will get personal yellow plates but without the little T in the right corner.

Temporary

2002 series, temporary plate.

White text on red background. Used as temporary registration for import and export. Like the standard plates, it has three letters and three digits, but with expiry day and month to the left and year to the right. When an imported vehicle has been approved it will get ordinary white plates with the same registration as previously given on red plates.

Military

1906 series, military plate.

Yellow digits on black background. The licence plates consists of four to six digits and may be used for all kinds of vehicles, such as ordinary automobiles and tanks. The 1906 series format is still used. The register and issuing of plates is done by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration thus completely separate from the civilian counterpart.

History

1906-1973 series

1906-1973 series (A = Stockholm).

Until 1973 the plates contained one or two letters and up to five digits. The letters are standardised codes for the counties of Sweden. A second letter (A or B) was used for some counties for which the 5 digits were not enough to cover all vehicles.

The typeface used was not consistent as the vehicle owner bought either a plate or a kit from various dealers, such as petrol stations.

• A, AA, AB - City of Stockholm
• B, BA, BB - Stockholms län
• C - Uppsala län
• D - Södermanlands län
• E, EA - Östergötlands län
• F, FA - Jönköpings län
• G - Kronobergs län
• H - Kalmar län
• I - Gotlands län
• K - Blekinge län
• L, LA - Kristianstads län (today part of Skåne län)
• M, MA, MB - Malmöhus län (today part of Skåne län)
• N - Hallands län
• O, OA, OB - Göteborgs och Bohus län (today part of Västra Götalands län)
• P, PA - Älvsborgs län (today part of Västra Götalands län)
• R - Skaraborgs län (today part of Västra Götalands län)
• S, SA - Värmlands län
• T, TA - Örebro län
• U, UA - Västmanlands län
• W, WA - Kopparbergs län (today Dalarnas län)
• X, XA - Gävleborgs län
• Y - Västernorrlands län
• Z - Jämtlands län
• AC - Västerbottens län
• BD - Norrbottens län
• no letter - military vehicles

Opposite to many other countries, there were no special codes for police or post or other national services apart from the militaries. One tradition though was that the official vehicle of the governor had the number 1 after the county code. "A 1" however belonged to the king.

These plates have not been used after 1974. All vehicles had to replace the plates. There are no historic plates in Sweden and historic cars have to use modern (past-1973) plates. All vehicles older than 30 years and not used as a commercial vehicle are regarded as "veteran" by the road authority, becoming tax-exempt and only needing to pass vehicle inspection every second year. These vehicles use ordinary plates and approval stickers.

Past 1973

After 1973 the format changed to three letters followed by three digits. The typeface was custom made to increase readability, and the plates were made in embossed sheet steel. Later the plates were changed to plastic with reflective tape on them, still embossed. This caused problems since the tape would wear off and decrease the readability of the plate. A new plate was introduced that was a solid piece of plastic, with a customised Helvetica typeface. The issue of these plates was halted quickly when Photoblocker spray paint became popular and they were replaced with embossed aluminium plates clad in 3M reflective film.

External links

• Media related to License plates of Sweden at Wikimedia Commons