Vehicle registration plates are mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle registered in France. They have existed in the country since It is compulsory for most motor vehicles used on public roads to display them. The latter makes a reference to the national mining administration, which was responsible for issuing the plates in the early 20th century. Since , various systems have been successively introduced, the most recent dating from The registration plates issued since use a XX-NNN-ZZ format, composed of a series of 7 alphanumeric characters: 2 letters, 3 numbers, and then 2 letters e.
This format is monitored nationwide and car plates are permanent and attached to a single vehicle from its first registration to its disposal. As such, car plates do not need to be changed if the car is sold or if the owner moves to another region within France. Unlike the new one, the format is geographical. The international code for French plates is "F" France.
Under the SIV scheme, car plates are permanent and do not need to be changed if the car owner sells it or moves to a different region. The SIV system was adopted to ease vehicle registration and law enforcement on roads because it is fully monitored by computer and administered nationwide. The SIV database can easily be combined with other computer files. The SIV was also implemented to replace the format, which was running out of character combinations.
The SIV scheme started in for motorcycles with an engine capacity under 50 cc. However, these vehicles carry plates with fewer characters, such as AAA. Due to the financial crisis of β , the introduction of the new plates was postponed from 1 January until 15 April for all new cars.
They must be made of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and rear, with black non-reflecting characters. Characters may be displayed on one or two lines. The left side of the plate must contain a blue band with the letter F for France under the stars of the European flag. The positioning of the characters on the plate is fully regulated but there is no official typeface.
