Vehicle registration plates of Italy facts for kids

Italian car number plates are special signs on vehicles that help identify them. They have black letters and numbers on a white background. Like many plates in Europe, they have small blue sections on the sides. The way numbers are given out since 1994 doesn't tell you where the car is from in Italy. Only one special government office, the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, is allowed to make these plates. Local government offices then give them out.

How Italian Car Plates Have Changed

Early Days: 1897–1905

The very first Italian car plates, from 1897 to 1901, had to show the owner's name and a local town number.

Then, from 1901 to 1905, the plates showed the full name of the city where the car came from, followed by a number. For example, you might see GENOVA 83 or PADOVA 2. These were the first metal plates, and car owners had to make them themselves! Today, only two of these old plates still exist in museums.

Black on White: 1905–1927

During this time, plates had black numbers on a white background. Each province (like a state or region) had its own special number code, which was written in red. Then, a unique number for that province followed in black. For example, 63 – 2993 meant the car was from Turin (code 63). Front plates were not always required.

White on Black: 1927–1976

Italian car plate from 1951-1976. "LI" is the code for Livorno.

In 1927, the plates changed to white numbers on a black background. They also started using two-letter codes for all provinces, like "LI" for Livorno. The only exception was Rome, which used its full name, ROMA, on the plate.

From 1927 to 1932, the numbers came before the province code. After 1932, the numbers were before the code on front plates, but after it on back plates. Even though Rome used "ROMA" on plates, its unofficial code "RM" was used in documents.

From 1932 to 1951, rear plates were square. They also had symbols next to the province code. First, it was the Fasces emblem (1928-1944). After that, a symbol from a war veterans' group appeared (1944-1948). When Italy became a Republic in 1948, the Republic's emblem (a star with "RI") was added to both front and rear plates.

1951-1985 Front plate. The numbers are before the province code. "PG" is for Perugia.

From 1951 to 1976, rear plates became a bit smaller. Front plates also changed to have straighter letters and a smaller Republic emblem. The numbers on the plates were unique for each province and could be up to six characters long.

Front plate example:

Changing Designs: 1976–1994

1976-1985 Italian car plates. "ROMA" is the code for Rome.

The front plates stayed the same as before. However, rear plates were now made in two parts. One part had the main numbers in white on black. The other part had the province code in orange on black. These two pieces were put together, either side-by-side for rectangular plates or one above the other for square plates. This made it easier for foreign cars to use Italian plates.

In 1985, plates started using black numbers on a white background that reflected light. Front plates became bigger. The numbers on the plates were now placed after the province code, just like on the rear plates. This new system also meant that if a province had fewer than six digits in its number, zeros were added to fill the space (e.g., LC 004239).

Modern Italian Car Plates: 1994–Present

1994-1999 Italian rear plate. This series belongs to the province of Como.

Since February 28, 1994, Italy uses a completely new system. Car plates no longer show where the car comes from directly. Instead, they use a mix of letters and numbers like AA 999 AA. The letters can be any letter except I, O, Q, U. The numbers change first, then the letters from right to left. So, the first plate was AA 000 AA, then AA 001 AA, and so on.

Rear plates are no longer in two pieces. You can choose a square plate for cars that need it. Square plates have a different numbering system, starting with ZA 000 AA.

Modern Italian car plate from Bolzano.

In 1999, the plates were updated again, starting with BB 000HH. The numbers became thicker. A blue band was added to the left side, showing the European flag (12 yellow stars) and Italy's country code "I". Another blue band was added to the right side. This band can optionally show a yellow circle with the year the car was registered and the two-letter provincial code.

The provincial code was brought back because many people missed it. However, it's not a required part of the number anymore. The main number is unique for the whole country.

How Modern Plates Look

AE 170 HJ	1994–1999 plate
CZ 898NF  Bz	Current plate from Bolzano
ZA MI 904 SZ	Square plate from Milan

Special Plates in Italy

Motorcycle Plates

Motorbike plate from Rome

Since 1999, motorcycles have plates with two letters and five numbers, starting from AA 00000. These plates also have the blue European band on the left. On the right, there's an optional blue band with the year of registration and the province code.

Older motorcycle plates (1927-1994) used the province code, similar to cars.

BB ROMA 03813

Moped Plates

Old (left) and new (right) moped plates

Before 1994, small mopeds didn't have plates. From 1994 to 2006, they had trapezoid-shaped plates with a mix of letters and numbers. In 2006, new rectangular moped plates were introduced. These new plates are linked to the moped itself, not just the owner.

Trailer Plates

Trailer plate until 2013

Car and truck trailers used to have two plates: a small one for the trailer itself and a yellow one that repeated the main vehicle's number. Since February 2013, new trailer plates look like regular car plates but start with "XL". This means they don't need the extra repetition plate anymore.

Trailer plate example (2013)

XA 123 AA  MI

Police Plates

Plate of the National Police

Plate of the Finance Police

Local police vehicles have "POLIZIA LOCALE" (local police) in blue. National police plates have "POLIZIA" in red, followed by letters and numbers. Customs police plates start with "GdiF" in red.

Diplomatic Plates

Plate for diplomats from Vatican City (XG) since 1995

Diplomatic plates have blue letters. They start with "CC" for Consular Corps, "CD" for Diplomatic Corps, or "UN" for United Nations. They also have a country code. These plates are the same size for both front and rear.

Military Plates

Plate of the Italian Army

Plate of the Italian Navy

Military plates have red prefixes: "EI" for the Army, "AM" for the Air Force, and "MM" for the Navy. They have a special code with letters and numbers. Historical military vehicles use "EI VS 000" with "VS" in green.

Red Cross Plates

Plate of the Italian Red Cross

Red Cross plates have the prefix "CRI" (Croce Rossa Italiana) in red. They also have the Red Cross symbol. The numbers and letters are on a white reflective background.

Firefighter Plates

Plate of the Fire Department

Firefighter vehicles have the prefix "VF" (Vigili del Fuoco) in red. Firefighters in special regions like Trento or Bolzano have their own local plates.

Temporary Plates

Temporary plates are used for vehicles that are in Italy for a short time and will be exported. They start with "EE" which means "Foreign Hikers" or "temporary plates". They have a space for a sticker showing the expiry date.

Temporary plate example

Agricultural Plates

Agricultural machines have yellow plates with black letters and numbers. They are about the size of motorcycle plates. Agricultural trailers have "RIM AGR." (trailer agricultural) in red on their yellow plates.

Agricultural plate example

Road Machinery Plates

Old road machinery plate (1992–1994)

These plates are square, with red letters on a yellow background. They were introduced in 1992.

Current road machinery plate

Civil Defence Plates

Civil Defence plate from Bolzano

Civil Defence plate from Trento

These plates are mainly found in Italy's special autonomous regions. They have the prefix "PC" (Protezione Civile) in red. National Civil Defence vehicles use "DPC" (Dipartimento della Protezione Civile).

Civil Defence Plate Examples

PC ZS0FZ  Bz

Civil Defence plate from Bolzano

Carabinieri Plates

Plate of the Carabinieri (military police)

The Carabinieri, Italy's military police, have plates with the prefix "CC" (Corpo di Carabinieri) in red. They became an independent force in 2000.

Carabinieri plate example

Test Plates

Test plates are used by car dealers to test cars on public roads, especially if a car doesn't have insurance or a regular plate yet. They are square and have a "P" (for Prova, meaning "Test") instead of the Republic emblem. The owner can choose the code on these plates.

Current Test plate

Italian Province Codes

Province Codes Used Since 1927

These two-letter codes are used for Italian provinces and appear on many documents, not just car plates. For example, "Trino (VC)" means the town of Trino in the province of Vercelli. Sometimes, "RM" is used instead of "Roma" for the province of Rome in addresses.

Old Province Codes: 1905–1927

Diplomatic Codes

These codes are used on diplomatic plates to show which country or organization the vehicle belongs to.

Code	Country	Code	Country	Code	Country	Code	Country	Code	Country
AA	Albania	AC	Austria	AE	Belgium	AG	Bulgaria	AK	Czech Republic
AM	Cyprus	AN	Denmark	AP	Finland	AQ	France	AU	Germany
BC	United Kingdom	BF	Slovenia	BG	Greece	BM	Ireland	BN	Italy (Holy See)
BP	Serbia	BQ	Croatia	BR	Luxembourg	BS	Malta	BT	Monaco
BV	Norway	BX	Netherlands	CA	Poland	CC	Portugal	CE	Romania
CG	San Marino	CH	Spain	CM	Switzerland	CN	Sweden	CQ	Switzerland
CR	Turkey	CX	Hungary	DA	Russia	DC	Ukraine	DD	Uzbekistan
DE	Vatican City (Apostolic Nunciature)	DF	Slovenia	DG	Macedonia	DH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	DL	Slovakia
DM	Armenia	DN	Georgia	DP	Kazakhstan	DQ	Latvia	DR	Belarus
DS	Lithuania	DT	Moldova	DV	Iceland	DZ	Azerbaijan	EA	Burkina Faso
EB	Dominica	EC	Uganda	ED	Burundi	EF	Rwanda	EG	Zimbabwe
EH	Qatar	EL	Chad	EM	Mauritania	EN	Eritrea	EP	Mali
ER	Belize	ES	Equatorial Guinea (c/o FAO)	ET	Kosovo	GA	Afghanistan	GB	Saudi Arabia
GC	Bangladesh	GD	Myanmar	GE	Taiwan	GF	China	GK	Philippines
GL	North Korea	GM	South Korea	GP	United Arab Emirates	GQ	Philippines	GS	Japan
GZ	Jordan	HA	India	HC	Indonesia	HE	Iran	HF	Iraq
HL	Israel	HP	Iraq	HQ	Kuwait	HR	Lebanon	HS	Malaysia
HT	Oman	HV	Pakistan	HX	Syria	LA	Sri Lanka	LB	Thailand
LE	Vietnam	LF	Yemen	LH	Montenegro	LM	Timor-Leste	NA	Algeria
NC	Angola	ND	Cameroon	NF	Cape Verde	NG	Central African Republic	NH	Republic of the Congo
NL	Côte d'Ivoire	NM	Egypt	NR	Ethiopia	NT	Gabon	NX	Ghana
PA	Guinea	PB	Kenya	PC	Lesotho	PD	Liberia	PE	Libya
PL	Madagascar	PN	Morocco	PQ	Nigeria	PS	Senegal	PT	Sierra Leone
PV	Mozambique	PX	Somalia	QA	South Africa	QC	Sudan	QE	Tanzania
QG	Tunisia	QL	Democratic Republic of the Congo	QN	Zambia	QP	Niger	SA	Canada
SD	Mexico	SF SH SL SN SQ	United States	TA	Costa Rica	TC	Cuba	TE	Dominican Republic
TF	Ecuador	TG	Jamaica	TH	Guatemala	TL	Haiti	TM	Honduras
TP	Nicaragua	TQ	Panama	TS	El Salvador	UA	Argentina	UE	Bolivia
UF	Brazil	UH	Chile	UL	Colombia	UN	Paraguay	UP	Peru
US	Uruguay	UT	Venezuela	VA	Argentina	VF	Brazil	VL	Colombia
VS	Uruguay	XA	S.M.O.M and  Palestine	XC XD XE XF XH	FAO, , International organizations, and  European Union	XG	Vatican City	ZA	Australia
ZC	New Zealand

Images for kids

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  Italian license plate from the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen (BZ)

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  Current Italian car registration plate: on white background the nationwide and sequential scheme "AA 000 AA"; on left the common EU design with the country code (I = Italia); on right the year of registration (12 = 2012) and the provincial code (FI = Firenze)

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  A 1994–1998 car plate, without blue strips

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  Italian vehicle rear number plate used from 1951 to 1976, LI is the provincial code of Livorno.

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  1951-1985 Front number plate, note that the digits are before the provincial code. PG is the provincial code of Perugia

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  1976-1985 front and rear Italian car number plates. ROMA is the provincial code of Rome.

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  1985-1994 Italian rear car number plate. VR is the provincial code of Verona.

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  1994-1999 Italian rear number plate.
  AE 000 HJ to AE 999 HJ belongs to the province of Como

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  1999-present Italian vehicle number plate from Bolzano.

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  Motorbike number plate from Rome

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  Old moped plate

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  New moped plate

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  Trailer plate until 2013

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  Registration Plate of Polizia Nazionale

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  Registration Plate of Guardia di Finanza

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  Current Registration Plate of Corpo Diplomatico from Vatican City (XG) since 1995

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  Registration Plate of Nazioni Unite (Specialists)

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  Registration Plate of Esercito Italiano

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  Registration Plate of Marina Militare

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  Registration Plate of Croce Rossa Italiana

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  Registration plate of Vigili del Fuoco

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  Registration plate of Vigili del Fuoco di Trento

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  Vehicle registration plate of the Order, as seen in Rome, Italy.

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  Old registration plate of a road machinery (1992–1994)

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  Registration plate of Protezione Civile provinciale di Bolzano

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  Registration plate of Protezione Civile provinciale di Trento

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  Registration Plate of Corpo di Carabinieri

See also

In Spanish: Matrículas automovilísticas de Italia para niños