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Vehicle registration plates of Switzerland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rear plate from Canton of St. Gallen, long format
Rear plate, Canton of Ticino, high format
Front plate, Thurgau

Vehicle license plates of Switzerland, are composed of a two-letter code for the canton and a number with up to 6 digits. The rear plates also display two shields with the flags of Switzerland and the respective canton. Since 1972, the sizes of the plates have been 300 x 80 mm (front) and 300 x 160 mm (rear). In 1987, the optional long format rear plates of 500 x 110 mm, which had been abolished in 1972, were reintroduced.[1]

The vehicle license number plates are assigned to the car owner and not to the vehicle. If the owner changes the vehicle, the same vehicle license number plates are attached to the new vehicle. The previous vehicle receives the vehicle license number plates of the new owner. It is also possible to own two (or more) vehicles that share the vehicle license number plates: the plates are physically unmounted from one vehicle and mounted on another, provided the vehicles in question are owned by the same owner of the vehicle license number plate. These plates are known locally as "Wechselschilder". In some cantons, when vehicle license number plates are returned and retired, they are made available again after a certain time.

Canton codes

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Code Flag Canton
AG Flag of Aargau Aargau
AI Flag of Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden
AR Flag of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden
BE Flag of Bern Bern
BL Flag of Basel-Country Basel-Landschaft
BS Flag of Basel-City Basel-Stadt
FR Flag of Fribourg Fribourg
GE Flag of Geneva Geneva
GL Flag of Glarus Glarus
GR Flag of Graubünden Grisons
JU Flag of Jura Jura
LU Flag of Lucerne Lucerne
NE Flag of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel
NW Flag of Nidwalden Nidwalden
OW Flag of Obwalden Obwalden
SG Flag of St. Gallen St. Gallen
SH Flag of Schaffhausen Schaffhausen
SO Flag of Solothurn Solothurn
SZ Flag of Schwyz Schwyz
TG Flag of Thurgau Thurgau
TI Flag of Ticino Ticino
UR Flag of Uri Uri
VD Flag of Vaud Vaud
VS Flag of Valais Valais
ZG Flag of Zug Zug
ZH Flag of Zurich Zürich

Until 2020, vehicles in the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia were registered in Ticino, but are now to be registered in the Italian town of Como.[2][3]

Types

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Personalized plate "999999" from Canton of Graubünden
Old style rear plate, from Canton of Zürich
Old style tractor plate from Canton of St. Gallen
Control mark for temporary registrations
Standard type for motor vehicles, motorcycles and trailers
Utility vehicles e.g. for construction, snow removal, fire brigade etc.
Exceptional vehicles that do not comply with mass and weight regulations
Agricultural vehicles
Military vehicles
For vehicle dealers and workshops, additional letter "U"
Temporary registration, with control mark showing the expiry date
Temporary, duty unpaid, with control mark and letter "Z"
Motorcycles and electric vehicles
Light motor vehicles and small motorcycles limited to 45 km/h
Mopeds and E-Bikes
Segway vehicles
Bicycle carriers, rear plate only

Diplomatic plates

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Consular plate, 38 = Iraq
UN Mission, 03 = WHO

Swiss diplomatic plates display one of the prefixes "CD", "CC" or "AT", followed by a canton code, a serial number and a code for the country or organization. Low serial numbers are reserved for ambassadors or the head of an organization and their deputies.

CD
  • Official cars of the diplomatic missions.
  • Motor vehicles of the members of the diplomatic staff of these missions .
CC
  • Vehicles of consular posts headed by a professional official.
  • Motor vehicles of consular officials.
CD
  • Vehicles of permanent missions or other representations to intergovernmental organizations and motor vehicles for the members of the diplomatic staff of these missions.
  • Vehicles of institutional beneficiaries such as intergovernmental organizations, international institutions, secretariats or other bodies set up under an international treaty, independent commissions, international courts, arbitral tribunals and other international bodies, who enjoy privileges, immunities and facilities, as well as the motor vehicles of the highest-ranking officials of these institutional beneficiaries, who enjoy diplomatic status in Switzerland.
AT
  • Vehicles belonging to members of the administrative and technical staff of diplomatic missions .

Codes

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Diplomatic Codes (UN Missions)[4]

01 – UN
02 – ILO
03 – WHO
04 – WMO
05 – ITU

06 – WIPO
07 – CERN
08 – WTO
09 – EFTA
010 – IOM

011 – IBE
012 – IPU
013 – ICDO
014 – APEF
015 – UPU

016 – OTIF
017 – ADB
018 – IHC
019 – WCED
020 – BIS

021 – ITCB
022 – SC
023 – ILC
024 – ACTED
025 – EC

026 – ICRC
027 – . . .
028 – . . .
029 – . . .
030 – IFRC

031 – ACWL
032 – OSCE
033 – WMO
034 – . . .
035 – GFATM
036 – . . .

Diplomatic Codes (Int. Organizations)

201 – EU
202 – OAS
203 – SICA
204 – SCI
205 – AGC
206 – OAU
207 – Commonwealth
208 – Arab League
209 – ATO
210 – IIDC

211 – OIC
212 – G-15
213 – OIF
214 – World Bank
215 – ACP
216 – (WTO)
217 – PIF

3xx – International Disarmament Talks ( xx = Country Code e.g. 309 = USA )
5xx – World Trade Organization (WTO) ( xx = Country Code e.g. 509 = USA )

Diplomatic Codes (Countries)

1  Vatican City
2  Canada
3  Sri Lanka
4  Australia
5  Iran
6  Spain
7  Israel
8  Kuwait
9  United States
10  Brazil
11  Mexico
12  Ireland
13  Japan
14  New Zealand
15  Liechtenstein
16  Monaco
17  South Africa
18  Egypt
19  Syria
20  Algeria
21  Argentina
22  Austria
23  Bolivia
24  Chile
25  Colombia
26  South Korea
27  Costa Rica
28  Ivory Coast
29  Cuba
30  Ecuador
31  Finland
32  France
33  Ghana
34  Guatemala
35  Haiti
36  India
37  Indonesia
38  Iraq
39  Italy
40  Lebanon
41  Panama
42  Peru
43  Philippines
44  Portugal
45  Tunisia

46  Turkey
47  Uruguay
48  Venezuela
49  Vietnam
50  Democratic Republic of the Congo
51  Germany
52  Nigeria
53  Pakistan
54  Bulgaria
55  China
56  Hungary
57  Poland
58  Romania
59  Serbia
60  Czech Republic
61  Saudi Arabia
62  Belgium
63  Denmark
64  Greece
65  Libya
66  Morocco
67  Norway
68  Netherlands
69  Sweden
70  Thailand
71  Jordan
72  United Kingdom
73  Russia
74  Luxembourg
75  Ethiopia
76  Dominican Republic
77  Paraguay
78  El Salvador
79  Chinese Taipei
80  Jamaica
81  San Marino
82  Trinidad and Tobago
83  Yemen
84  Gabon
85  Malaysia
86  Liberia
87  Sudan
88  Mongolia
89  Malta
90  Belarus

91  Ukraine
92  Iceland
93  Republic of the Congo
94  Chad
95  Myanmar
96  Senegal
97  Nicaragua
98  Fiji
99  Honduras
100  Bangladesh
101  Cambodia
102  North Korea
103  Benin
104  Cyprus
105  Singapore
106  Central African Republic
107  Qatar
108  Oman
109  Cameroon
110  Madagascar
111  Kenya
112  Somalia
113  United Arab Emirates
114  Tanzania
115  Burundi
116 . . . . (Yemen until 1990)
117  Nepal
118  Bahrain
119  Afghanistan
120  Rwanda
121  Bhutan
122  Guinea
123  Zimbabwe
124  Hong Kong
125  Albania
126  Brunei
127  Dominica
128  São Tomé and Príncipe
129  Equatorial Guinea
130  Belize
131  Mauritius
132  Kyrgyzstan
133  Slovenia
134  Croatia
135  Zambia

136  Bosnia and Herzegovina
137  Slovakia
138  Lithuania
139  Latvia
140  Jordan
141  Angola
142  North Macedonia
143  Gambia
144  Armenia
145  Estonia
146  Uganda
147  Kazakhstan
148  Eritrea
149  Georgia
150  Mauritania
151  Moldova
152  Azerbaijan
153  Lesotho
154  Barbados
155  Cape Verde
156  Mozambique
157  Andorra
158  Botswana
159  Mali
160  Uzbekistan
161  Burkina Faso
162  Namibia
163  Timor-Leste
164  Saint Kitts and Nevis
165  Eswatini
166  Djibouti
167  Maldives
168  Montenegro
169  Grenada
170  Niger
171  Tajikistan
172 . . . .
173  Kosovo
174  Palestine
175  Togo
176  Comoros
177  Turkmenistan
178 . . . .
179  Sierra Leone
180 . . . .
181  South Sudan

Obsolete types

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Administration, rear plate

Civilian Federal vehicles had registration plates composed of the Swiss shield followed by the letter "A" (short for "Administration") and a number with up to five digits. The first digit indicated the department. In 2004 these plates were replaced with normal cantonal plates.

  • A 1xxxx – Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
  • A 2xxxx – Federal Department of Home Affairs
  • A 3xxxx – Federal Department of Justice and Police
  • A 4xxxx – Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport
  • A 5xxxx – Federal Department of Finance
  • A 6xxxx – Federal Department of Economy
  • A 7xxxx – Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication
PTT / SBB, rear plate

The Post, Telegraph and Telephone company (PTT) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) were part of the federal government until 1997/98. Their vehicles had registration plates composed of the Swiss coat followed by the letter "P" (short for "Post") and a number with up to five digits. When they became independent companies, the P-plates were replaced with cantonal plates in 2004.

  • P 1xxxx to P 7xxxx were attributed to PTT
  • P 8xxxx to P 9xxxx were attributed to SBB

References

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  1. ^ "Swiss License-Plates". www.license-plates.ch.
  2. ^ Campione, niente targhe svizzere dal 1° gennaio, La Regione, 29 September 2019
  3. ^ Altra beffa per Campione d’Italia, chiude l’ufficio postale svizzero: una conseguenza dell’ingresso nell’area Ue Archived 2019-11-19 at the Wayback Machine, Corriere di Como, 18 November 2019
  4. ^ "Diplomaten-Codes". www.license-plates.ch.
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