UK Diplomatic Number Plates Guide

What Are Diplomatic Number Plates?

Diplomatic number plates are a special category of vehicle registration issued by the DVLA in conjunction with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCO, formerly the FCDO). They are assigned to motor vehicles operated by foreign embassies, high commissions, consulates, and international organisations based in the UK. The current system was introduced in 1979, replacing an older arrangement where diplomatic vehicles used standard civilian plates. The new format was designed for security, identification, and administrative purposes, making it immediately obvious that a vehicle belongs to a diplomatic mission.

How It All Began

Most ambassadors and high commissioners travel in cars bearing a plate that reflects the name of their country. Some of these plates were originally issued to private individuals and were later acquired under the auspices of the FCO. Others were never issued in the normal course of events and were created anew or issued out of sequence — FIJ 1 for Fiji is one example. The tradition began by accident. During a visit to Belfast in 1949, New Zealand High Commissioner William Jordan spotted a recently registered car bearing the plate NZ 1 , issued in the ordinary course of events in Londonderry in January of that year. Struck by how appropriate it would look on an official vehicle, his host arranged to acquire it, and it was placed on the High Commissioner's Rolls-Royce. At the time, the New Zealand High Commission was in the Strand, just a few doors from Australia House — and it did not take long for the Australians to follow suit. AUS 1 appeared on the Australian High Commissioner's car shortly afterwards, and the trend spread from there. Some diplomatic private plates contain letters that do not appear in standard British civilian issues. The letter Q, excluded from the normal system, appears on QTR1 for Qatar, QLD1 for Queensland, and QUE1 for Quebec. The letter I, equally absent from mainland British issues, appears on IND 1 — a plate issued to the Indian High Commission before the three-letter prefix series was ever introduced. Countries that have changed their names have had to update their plates accordingly. Ceylon originally held CEY 1 , which was replaced by 1 SL when the country became Sri Lanka in 1971. The Republic of Upper Volta held 1 RUV until it became Burkina Faso and transitioned to BF 1 . Brazil was originally allocated BRA 1 , BRA 2 , and BRA 3 , but all three were withdrawn from circulation after it was recognised that the abbreviation carried derogatory connotations in British English. The Ambassador now displays BRZ 1 . Pakistan originally used PAK 1 , before that too was changed — for the same reason — to 1 PAK . Not every embassy has a clean option available. Iceland holds IC 1 , a plate with an interesting prior history: it was first issued in 1904 by County Carlow (Ireland) to the entomologist and arachnologist Denis Pack-Beresford OBE. It passed through several hands over the following decades before eventually ending up in diplomatic use. Cambodia presents a unique case. Its plate is REC001 — standing for Royal Embassy of Cambodia — and it is one of the very few registrations in the UK where the number begins with a zero. This format dates back to Edwardian-era motorcycle registrations and almost no examples remain in circulation. North Korea, unable to use an obvious abbreviation without controversy, acquired PRK 1D — its international vehicle code followed by the letter D, which in a diplomatic context marks it as a diplomat's vehicle. It is the only embassy plate where the D appears to be part of the country identifier rather than the staff category indicator. The United States holds USA 1 but has not displayed it on vehicles for decades, citing security concerns. US 1 , meanwhile, is in private ownership and has remained with the same family for generations. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office itself holds 1 FCO .

Embassy Private Plates

The Complete List Embassy private plates are held by diplomatic missions and cannot be bought, sold, or transferred. They are used alongside the official diplomatic D and X plates, typically on the head of mission's vehicle or other senior cars. Mission Private Plate Notes Afghanistan 1 AFG Angola

Antigua and Barbuda ANU 1 Argentina 1 ARG Australia AUS 1 Austria 1 OES Österreich in German Bahamas 1 BMS , 12 BMS Bahrain BAH 1 Bangladesh BDH 1 Barbados BDS 1 Belgium 1 BE Belize BEL 12 E Bolivia BOL 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Spells Bosnia phonetically Botswana BOT 1 Brazil

, 2 and 3 were issued then withdrawn as derogatory Brunei 1 NBD Negara Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria BG 1 Burkina Faso BF 1 Formerly 1 RUV (Upper Volta); Burkina Faso no longer has a UK embassy Burundi

Cambodia REC001 Royal Embassy of Cambodia; one of very few UK plates where the number begins with zero Cameroon 1 CAM Canada CAN 1 , CDA 2 Chile CHI 1 Colombia COL 1 Costa Rica 1 COS Croatia 1 HRV Hrvatska in Croatian Cyprus 1 CY Formerly 1 CYP Czechia 1 CZE Denmark 1 DAN Danmark in Danish Ecuador 1 ECU El Salvador ELS 1 Ethiopia 1 EE Fiji FIJ 1 Issued out of sequence; FIJ was not a standard civilian combination Finland FIN 1 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1 FCO France FRA 1 Gabon 1 GAB Gambia 1 GAM Georgia 1 GRG Germany 1 GER Ghana 1 GHA Greece 1 GRC Grenada 1 GRN Guyana GYA 1 Hungary 1 HUN , 1 MAG Magyarország in Hungarian Iceland IC 1 First issued by County Carlow in 1904 to entomologist Denis Pack-Beresford OBE India IND 1 Contains the letter I, excluded from standard mainland British issues; issued before the prefix series existed Indonesia RI 1 Republic of Indonesia Italy ITA 1 Jamaica

is privately owned by Wilkins & Sons (Tiptree Jams) Japan JPN 1 is in private ownership Kazakhstan 1 KAZ Kenya 1 KEN Kuwait 1 KUW Kyrgyzstan 1 KYR Latvia

Spells Latvia phonetically Lesotho 1 LES Lithuania 1 LIT Luxembourg 1 LUX Malaysia

Maldives 7 MLD Malta 1 MLT Mauritius MAU 1 Mexico MEX 1 Mozambique 1 MOZ Namibia 1 NAM Netherlands NL 1 New Zealand NZ 1 ,

was the plate that started the tradition in 1949 Nicaragua NIC 1 Nigeria

Federal Government of Nigeria North Korea

The only embassy plate where D appears as part of the country identifier North Macedonia 1 MAK Norway 1 NWY Oman

Spells Oman phonetically Pakistan 1 PAK Formerly PAK 1 , changed for derogatory reasons Panama PAN 1 Papua New Guinea 1 PNG Paraguay 1 PY Peru PE 1 Philippines PHI 1 Poland 1 POL Portugal 1 POR Qatar QTR1 Uses Q, a letter excluded from standard civilian issues Romania ROM 1 Russia 1 RF Russian Federation Serbia

Seychelles SEY 1 Singapore SGP 1 Slovakia 1 SLK Slovenia 1 SVN South Africa SA 1 South Korea 1 ROK Republic of Korea Spain

Spells Spain phonetically Sri Lanka 1 SL Replaced CEY 1 when Ceylon became Sri Lanka in 1971 Sudan SUD 1 Sweden 1 SVE Sverige in Swedish Tanzania 1 TAN Thailand THA 11 Togo 1 TOG Tonga 1 TON Trinidad and Tobago 1 TT Tunisia TUN 1 Turkey 1 TUR Uganda 1 UGA Ukraine UKR 1 United Arab Emirates 1 UAE United States USA 1 Not displayed on vehicles; withheld for security reasons Uruguay 1 URU Venezuela 1 VEN Yemen 1 YEM Zambia ZAM 1 Zimbabwe ZIM 1 Historic plates now superseded: Former Country Former Plate Replaced By Ceylon

(Sri Lanka, from 1971) Republic of Upper Volta

(Burkina Faso)

How to Read a Diplomatic Plate

Every diplomatic plate issued since 1979 follows the same structure: [Country Code] [Letter] [Serial Number] For example: 259D232 101 The country code (first three digits) identifies the embassy or international organisation. 259 is Sweden. Larger missions are allocated a range — the United States runs from 270 to 274 to accommodate its fleet of over 600 vehicles, the largest of any foreign mission in the UK. The letter indicates the staff category. D is for full diplomatic agents. X is for non-diplomatic accredited personnel such as administrative and technical staff. The serial number (final three digits) gives further detail on the role: Range Category 101–399 Diplomats (D plates) 400–699 Non-diplomatic staff of international organisations (X plates) 700–999 Consular and other non-diplomatic staff 350–399 Security range — used by any embassy that wishes to conceal its country of origin 600–649 Reserved for visiting foreign royalty on official state visits 900+ International organisations The font on a diplomatic plate is visibly narrower than the Charles Wright typeface used on all other UK registrations. This is a deliberate anti-counterfeiting measure. Honorary consuls are not entitled to diplomatic plates under UK law.

The Complete Country Code Table

Every embassy, high commission, consulate, and recognised international organisation in the UK has been assigned a three-digit code since 1979.

CodeCountry / Organisation

101

Afghanistan

102

Algeria

103

Argentina

104–108

Australia

109

Austria

110

Bahamas

111

Bahrain

112

Bangladesh

113

Barbados

114

Belgium

115

Benin

116

Bolivia

117

Botswana

118–122

Brazil

123

Bulgaria

124

Myanmar (formerly Burma)

125

Burundi

126

Cameroon

127–131

Canada

132

Central African Republic

133

Chad

134

Chile

135

China

136

Colombia

137

Republic of the Congo

138

Costa Rica

139

Cuba

140

Cyprus

141

Czech Republic

142

Denmark

143

Dominican Republic

144

Ecuador

145–147

Egypt

148

El Salvador

149

Ethiopia

150

Fiji

151

Finland

152–156

France

157

Gabon

158

Gambia

159–163

Germany

164

East Germany (historic)

165

Ghana

166–167

Greece

168

Grenada

169

Guinea

170

Guyana

171

Haiti

172

Honduras

173

Hungary

174

Iceland

175–179

India

180

Indonesia

181–182

Iran

183–184

Iraq

185

Ireland

186–187

Israel

188–190

Italy

191

Ivory Coast

192

Jamaica

193

Japan

194–195

Jordan

196

Kenya

197

South Korea

198

Kuwait

199

Laos

200

Lebanon

201

Lesotho

202

Liberia

203

Libya

204

Luxembourg

205

Malawi

206

Malaysia

207

Mali

208

Malta

209

Mauritania

210

Mauritius

211

Mexico

212

Mongolia

213

Morocco

214

Nepal

215–217

Netherlands

218–219

New Zealand

220

Nicaragua

221

Niger

222–224

Nigeria

225

Norway

226

Oman

227–228

Pakistan

229

Panama

230

Papua New Guinea

231

Paraguay

232

Peru

233

Philippines

234

Poland

235

Portugal

236

Qatar

237

Romania

238

Rwanda

239–240

Saudi Arabia

241

Senegal

242

Seychelles

243

Sierra Leone

244

Singapore

245

Somalia

246–247

South Africa

248–252

Russia (originally Soviet Union)

253–255

Spain

256

Sri Lanka

257

Sudan

258

Eswatini

259

Sweden

260

Switzerland

261

Syria

262

Tanzania

263

Thailand

264

Togo

265

Tonga

266

Trinidad and Tobago

267

Tunisia

268

Turkey

269

United Arab Emirates

270–274

United States

275

Uruguay

276

Venezuela

277

Vietnam

278–279

Yemen

280

Serbia (originally Yugoslavia)

281

Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)

282

Zambia

283

Dominica

284

Monaco

285

Nauru

286

Saint Lucia

287

Uganda

288

Burkina Faso

289

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

290

Zimbabwe

291

Vatican City

292

East Caribbean

293

Belize

294

Brunei

295

Antigua and Barbuda

296

Angola

297

Guatemala

298

Mozambique

299

Namibia

300

Lithuania

301

Armenia

302

Slovenia

303

Latvia

304

Estonia

305

Croatia

306

Ukraine

307

Slovakia

308

Belarus

309

Albania

310

Azerbaijan

311

North Macedonia

312

Bosnia and Herzegovina

313

Uzbekistan

314

Eritrea

315

Kazakhstan

316

Georgia

317

Maldives

318

Turkmenistan

319

Kyrgyzstan

320

Saint Kitts and Nevis

321

Montenegro

324

San Marino

328

South Sudan

330

Kosovo

350–399

Any embassy (security use — country not identifiable)

600–649

Visiting foreign royalty on official state visits

900

Commonwealth Secretariat

901

European Commission

902

Council of Europe

903

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

904

North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission

905

European Parliament

906

Inter-American Development Bank

907

International Maritime Organization

908

International Cocoa Organization

909

International Coffee Organization

910

International Finance Corporation

911

International Labour Organization

912

International Sugar Organization

913

European Police College

914

International Whaling Commission

915

International Wheat Council

916

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

917

United Nations

918

Western European Union

919

World Health Organization

920

Eastern Caribbean Commission

921

Joint European Torus

922

International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund

923

International Maritime Satellite Organisation

924

Commonwealth Foundation

925

International Maritime Organization (Permanent Representative)

926

Commonwealth Telecommunications Bureau

927

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

928

Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux

929

International Lead and Zinc Corporation

931

Joint European Torus

932

North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization

933

European Investment Bank

934

European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation

935

European School (Oxford)

936

African Development Bank

937–938

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

940

European Bioinformatics Institute

941

European Medicines Agency

943

Oslo and Paris Commissions

944

European Banking Authority

Diplomatic Immunity and Traffic Law

The legal basis for the diplomatic plate system is the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), brought into UK law through the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964. Full diplomatic agents (D plates) cannot be arrested, detained, or prosecuted in the UK for any offence, including road traffic violations. Police can stop a diplomatic vehicle and record an incident, but cannot issue enforceable penalties. The protection attaches to the person, not the car — a non-diplomat behind the wheel of a diplomatic vehicle receives no immunity whatsoever. Administrative and technical staff (X plates) have limited immunity covering only acts carried out in the course of their official duties. Consular officers have a narrower form still. The most visible consequence of this system is the London congestion charge. As of late 2025, foreign missions collectively owed approximately £164.6 million in unpaid charges since the scheme launched in 2003. Several embassies argue the charge constitutes a tax and is therefore exempt under the Vienna Convention. The UK government disagrees. The standoff has continued for over two decades with no resolution in sight. The most serious incident associated with diplomatic immunity in the UK occurred on 17 April 1984. PC Yvonne Fletcher, a 25-year-old Metropolitan Police officer, was shot and killed from inside the Libyan People's Bureau on St James's Square while policing a demonstration outside. No one was ever prosecuted. The UK severed diplomatic relations with Libya that year, and they were not restored until 1999.

What Are Embassy-Inspired Plates Worth?

Diplomatic plates cannot be bought or sold. They belong to the mission and are returned when circumstances change. But the civilian plates that resemble them — short dateless formats, three-letter country abbreviations, phonetic country spellings — sit among the most desirable in the UK private plate market. Several of the most obvious options are already in private hands, which is precisely why embassies have had to find creative alternatives. JAM 1 is owned by Wilkins & Sons of Essex, the company behind Tiptree Jams — which is why Jamaica's High Commission displays 1 JAM instead. JPN 1 is privately held, sending the Japanese Embassy to JPN 1D. EGY 1 is in private ownership, which explains EGY 1A on Egyptian vehicles. UK 1 and 1 UK are both owned by a packaging company in Tottenham. The British government cannot use either, even if it wanted to. In the broader market, short dateless plates in country abbreviation formats — whether three letters, two letters, or phonetic combinations — consistently attract buyers who are nationals of the relevant country, collectors with an interest in diplomatic history, and investors who understand how few of these exist. The rarer the combination and the shorter the format, the higher the value. For a current valuation of any plate in this category, the Plateworth tool draws on verified auction results, live dealer listings, and comparable sales to give you an accurate market picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do some diplomatic vehicles use the 350–399 range?

That block is reserved as a security option, allowing an embassy to register vehicles without revealing which country they belong to. Are diplomatic vehicles exempt from road tax? Yes. Diplomatic agents are exempt from vehicle excise duty under the Vienna Convention. What happens to a diplomatic plate when a mission closes? It is returned to the DVLA. It does not enter the civilian market.