Vehicle registration plates of the Czech Republic

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As of the year 2019 there are two different valid systems[clarification needed] of vehicle registration plates in the Czech Republic.

Format[edit]

A Czech registration plate from 2004 to now on, in which A = Prague
A Czech registration plate from 2001 to 2004, in which H = Hradec Králové Region
A custom registration plate: the 'O' of DIC-TAT0R is actually a zero

The latest system of Czech vehicle registration plate was introduced between 29 June and 17 July 2001. In this system, the first letter from the left represents the region (kraj), and this is combined with numbers issued in series from 1x0 0001, where x is the letter representing the region.

By 2009, Prague (A) has reached the combination 9x9 9999 in its respective series; consequently it then started issuing plates which included a two-letter combination in the format 1xa 0000 to 9xa 9999, where x is the regional letter and a is a letter in alphabetical order (so that 1AA 9999 is followed by 1AB 0000, and so on). Shortly after that the Central-Bohemian region came. As of the beginning of the summer 2014, the South Moravian (B) and Moravian-Silesian in the November, lastly in April 2019 the Usti region. Regions were also issuing registration marks with two-letter combinations.[1]

In mid-2023, the serial of new license plates issued in the Prague region added a letter.[2]

Motorcycle plates have the 2-line format 1x 0001, where x is the letter representing the region.

Since 2004 with the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, a blue European strip with the letters CZ and European stars have been added.

As of 1 January 2015, registration numbers are not changed if the owner of a vehicle moves to another region or if the vehicle is re-registered to a new owner residing in a different region. New numbers (with the corresponding code of the region of re-registration) are assigned only in the case of damage, loss, or theft of a registration plate.

Since 2017 custom ("personalized") plates have been available, against payment of a special fee of 5 000 CZK (around 222 USD) per plate, i.e for a car it would cost 10 000 CZK and for a motorcycle 5 000 CZK. These have the format XXX-XXXXX (i.e. they have one more character than ordinary plates) and must contain at least one number. The letters G, CH, O, Q and W may not be used. The license plate cannot contain any abusive or offensive words.

Map of the Czech Republic with regions (coded)
Code Region Czech Name
A (01) Capital City Prague Hlavní město Praha
B (02) South Moravia Jihomoravský kraj (Brno)
C (03) South Bohemia Jihočeský kraj (České Budějovice)
E (04) Pardubice Pardubický kraj (Pardubice)
H (05) Hradec Králové Královéhradecký kraj (Hradec Králové)
J (06) Highland (Vysočina) Region Vysočina (Jihlava)
K (07) Karlovy Vary Karlovarský kraj (Karlovy Vary)
L (08) Liberec Liberecký kraj (Liberec)
M (09) Olomouc Olomoucký kraj (Olomouc)
P (10) Plzeň Plzeňský kraj (Plzeň)
S (11) Central Bohemia (Prague) Středočeský kraj (Praha)
T (12) Moravia-Silesia Moravskoslezský kraj (Ostrava)
U (13) Ústí nad Labem Ústecký kraj (Ústí nad Labem)
V Historic vehicles (From 2006 they have a format of NNV XXXX, where NN means the number code, V the letter V and X a serial number)
Z (14) Zlín Zlínský kraj (Zlín)
Numbers Military vehicles, and diplomatic corps

History[edit]

1932 - 1954[edit]

[3] This system was introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1932. The first letters are represented by region.

  • Composition (newer form: 1945 - 1954):

X-NN-NNN, white on black

  • Composition (older form: 1932 - 1939):

X-NNNNN, black on white

1954 - 2001[edit]

Czech registration plate 1992-2001 (here A = Prague registration)
Czechoslovak registration plate for a commercially used vehicle 1986-1992
Czechoslovak registration from the 1970s, still valid in the Czech Republic

This system was introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1960. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Slovak Republic introduced a new system of car registration plates in 1997 while the Czech Republic kept issuing the old one until 2001. In the old system, the two first letters represented the district (okres). Registrations in Prague began with A, while the vehicles used by the government had registration plates beginning with AA.

  • Composition (older form: 1960–1984):

XX-NN-NN or XXX-NN-NN

  • Composition (newer form: 1984–2001):

XX NN-NN or XXX NN-NN

(X = letters, N = numbers.)

Commercially used vehicles and heavy goods vehicle had a yellow background. Vehicles with foreign owners had a blue background and yellow letters.

List of districts[edit]

Code Region Code Region
A Praha MO Most
AA for vehicles used by the government (until 1989) NA Náchod
BE Beroun NB Nymburk
BI Brno-venkov (it was only used with a yellow background for heavy goods vehicles) NJ Nový Jičín
BK Blansko OC Olomouc
BM Brno-město OL Olomouc
BN Benešov OM Olomouc
BO Brno-venkov OP Opava
BR Bruntál OS Ostrava-město
BS Brno-město OT Ostrava-město
BV Břeclav OV Ostrava-město
BZ Brno-město PA Pardubice
CB České Budějovice PB Příbram
CE České Budějovice PC Praha-západ
CH Cheb PE Pelhřímov
CK Český Krumlov PH Praha-východ
CL Česká Lípa PI Písek
CR Chrudim PJ Plzeň-jih
CV Chomutov PM Plzeň-město
DC Děčín PN Plzeň-město
DD Diplomatic corps PR Přerov
DO Domažlice PS Plzeň-sever
FI Frýdek-Místek (it was never used) PT Prachatice
FM Frýdek-Místek PU Pardubice
GT Gottwaldov (until 1989, town then renamed to Zlín) PV Prostějov
GV Gottwaldov (until 1989) PY Praha-východ
HB Havlíčkův Brod PZ Praha-západ
HK Hradec Králové RA Rakovník
HO Hodonín RK Rychnov nad Kněžnou
HR Hradec Králové RO Rokycany
JC Jičín SM Semily
JE Jeseník (from 1996) SO Sokolov
JI Jihlava ST Strakonice
JH Jindřichův Hradec SU Šumperk
JN Jablonec nad Nisou SY Svitavy
KA Karviná TA Tábor
KD Kladno TC Tachov
KH Kutná Hora TP Teplice
KI Karviná TR Třebíč
KL Kladno TU Trutnov
KM Kroměříž UH Uherské Hradiště
KO Kolín UL Ústí nad Labem
KR Karlovy Vary UO Ústí nad Orlici
KT Klatovy US Ústí nad Labem (it was never used)
KV Karlovy Vary VS Vsetín
LB Liberec VY Vyškov
LI Liberec XX Consular corps
LN Louny ZL Zlín (from 1990, previously GT/GV = Gottwaldov)
LT Litoměřice ZN Znojmo
MB Mladá Boleslav ZR Žďár nad Sázavou
ME Mělník Numbers Military vehicle

Special license plates[edit]

Diplomatic registration plates[edit]

Diplomatic plate – old system
Diplomatic plate – new system

Until 2001 diplomatic plates (as well as those on cars owned by foreign residents) in the Czech Republic used a blue background with yellow letters. Foreigners (Czechoslovakia) used same plates as DC plates except they did not use the DD or XX codes, and non-diplomatic personnel used a XX code instead. Since 2001 the yellow on blue plates have been replaced by plates with blue letters on a white background.

Others[edit]

Commercial vehicles of have black letters with a yellow background, military have numbers only, rentals have red letters on a white background (discontinued), historic vehicles use green letters on a white background (always using "V" as a prefix), trailers have the district codes put in the middle (99 XXX-99 or 99 XX-99) and technical embassies use red letters on a yellow background (discontinued).

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Státní poznávací značky v Česku", Wikipedie (in Czech), 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
  2. ^ "Na registrační značce pro Prahu přibylo další písmeno, nahradilo číslici". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  3. ^ "➤ Matriculas de Checoslovaquia | Todo lo que necesitas saber 【2021】↓".

External links[edit]