Vehicle registration plates of the Netherlands

Vehicle registration plates of the Netherlands are vehicle registration plates issued by the RDW (Dutch Vehicle Authority).
RDW vehicle registration plates are assigned bearing the same "number" which is a sequence of characters composed of letters and digits as that is shown on the vehicle's registration document. The numbering scheme used bears no relation to the place of a vehicle's registration or ownership, and numbers – which are issued in strict time order – identify the vehicle, not its owner. Thus, if a vehicle changes ownership, the registration number remains unchanged.
If the car is registered before 1 January 1978, it may have a dark-blue number plate also called 'historical plates'. Taxis will have a light-blue number plate because they pay a different amount of tax to let people into the car legally. If a taxi does not have a blue number plate on it, it is an illegal taxi and the driver will charge a lesser fare to the person in the car.
A green plate is a 'trade plate', i.e. a temporary number plate used by motor traders or vehicle testers to save them the cost and time to register and tax every vehicle temporarily in their possession.

Earlier schemes

The Netherlands introduced a system of vehicle registration plates on 26 April 1898 – the third country in the world to do so, after France in 1893 and Germany in 1896. A plate bearing the number 1 was issued to one J. van Dam, who purchased the first Dutch-built motorcar, which was manufactured at his own Groninger Motor-Rijtuigen Fabriek. Plate numbers stayed with the owner, unlike the present system. From 1906, a new system used the format, where was a province code and a serial number. This system lasted until 1951 when the current system was introduced.

Province codes

Numbering schemes

The current Dutch license plate system uses black letters on a light-reflecting yellow background, although white reflecting letters on a dark-blue background are allowed for vehicles built before 1977. Since 2000, the blue band with the European flag and NL has been mandatory for all vehicles except vehicles built before 1977.
Dutch license plates can be formatted as follows:

Year	Format	Format	Comment	First license plate
1951–1965		1	This series is currently in use for imported oldtimers, using leftover serial letters not originally issued. The series DE, DH, DL, DM, DR, AE, AH, AL, AM, AR, DZ, PM and RM are now used. ZM, ZF, and NM for motorcycles, and BE for oldtimer commercial vehicles. No xx-00-00.	ND-00-01
1965–1973		2	This series is currently in use for special permit vehicles. No 00-00-xx.	00-01-AD
1973–1978		3	Light blue and yellow plates were first introduced in 1975, they were slightly larger than the dark blue ones. The light blue ones became mandatory from 1 January 1976. The yellow, reflecting plates were initially optional but became mandatory from 1 January 1978, a few months before this series ended. This series is currently in use for imported 'youngtimers' between 10 and 40 years old from now, starting with Y No 00-xx-00.	00-AD-01
1978–1991		4	The letters K and Y were used as serial letters in this series. This series is currently issued to semi-trailers. No double zero allowed.	DB-01-BB
1991–1999		5	The letter K was not used as a serial letter in this series. No double zero.	DB-BB-01
1999–2008		6	In 2000, the Controlled Issuance and Intake of Licence Plates license style started with the F series in this series. All license plates except some oldtimer registrations were mandated to change to GAIK plates. This series is currently in use for motorcycles. No double zero allowed.	01-DB-BB
2006–present		7	At mopeds ; no double zero allowed. And also for heavy goods vehicles and trailers above 750 kg, in both series double zero allowed. No single zero allowed at all.	01-GBB-1
2006–present		8	In this series, the first letters B, D, F, G, H, J, M, N, P, and R are not used, not to clash with export license plates. Therefore, the first letters in car plates can be only K, S, T, X, and Z. V is used for light commercial vehicles. W will probably be used for trailers in the future. No single zero.	1-KBB-00
2006–present		9	The letter L is reserved for agricultural vehicles. No SD-001-B to SD-999-Z and no SS-001-B to SS-999-Z. Incl. 18-2-2025 also for trucks with license plate B. No triple zero.	GB-001-B
2011–present		10	No x-001-SD to x-999-SD and no x-001-SS to x-999-SS. Also no S-001-DB to S-999-DZ. No triple zero.	G-001-BB
2015–present		11	This series is currently issued to mopeds and was used for light commercial vehicles, no VVD No VVD-01-B till VVD-99-Z, And since 1 January 2021 also for agricultural vehicles and tractors and from 4 June 2024 for passenger cars too, starting with GBB-01-B followed by H and J. No double zero.	GBB-01-B
2021–present		12	Since 31 December 2021 in use by tractors from T-01-BBB and since 8 January 2024 also in use by light commercial vehicles from V-01-BBB. And since 1 July 2025 also by electric scooters from E-01-BBD. In all this three series no double zero. BBB will now no longer used because BBB is a political party.	-
2016–present		13	This series is currently issued for fast motorboats and was used for tractors between 2016 and 2020. From 2021 side code 11 and 12 are issued for tractors. 0-GV-000 to 9-GV-000 are not used.	-
2016–2020		14	This series was used for tractors to 456-GV-4 and 000-GV-0 to 000-GV-4 is not used. From 2021 side code 11 and 12 are issued for tractors.	-

Nowadays the letters used do not include vowels, to avoid profane or obscene language. To avoid confusion with the number zero, the letters C and Q are also omitted and letters M and W are not used because they are too wide.
Several combinations are banned on Dutch license plates to prevent obscenity, controversial political or historical references, and to ensure clarity and distinctiveness for vehicles. Here's the list:

Letters and numbers are issued in strict alphabetical/numeric order. Thus a Dutch license plate indicates the date of registration of a car, but no information about where in the country the car comes from, or to whom it belongs.

Other formats

With the introduction of the GAIK series, several other formats have been introduced as well. All background colors used are retroreflective.

Format	Comment
	Taxi plates are mandatory since December 2000 for vehicles used to transport people, but which are not part of the public transportation system.
	Trader plates, used by automotive companies to register current stock under their insurance, these plates are to be used if the car is used for a test drive and has no insurance on its license plate. It is forbidden to park a car on the public road with trader plates fitted.
	Used for trailers with a maximum weight of less than 750 kg, registration matches the vehicle pulling the trailer. Also used for export, temporary and provisional vehicles.

Recent changes

License plates subtly changed shape in 2002 when a new font was introduced, amongst other changes.

Combatting fraudulent reports of stolen license plates, license plates are replaced immediately but using the same number. The new license plate is tagged with a small number 1 over the first dash, which is increased with each new plate.
A blue background is used for taxis.
White letters on a blue or black background are used for classic cars older than 1 January 1978 and with a registration number in sidecode 1, 2, or 3.
Black letters on a white background are used for small trailers that hide the car's actual license plate.
Large trailers, caravans, etc. now have black/yellow license plates.
The letter Y is no longer used for cars, but instead for fast motorboats.
The letter combinations SDB to SDZ as well as SSB to SSZ are not issued as SD, SS and SA continue to have fascist connotations in the Netherlands. Registrations with the letter combination NSB were issued in 2010, although these were recalled because these were the initials of the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging.
The letter combination KGB is not issued in side code 12.

Current series

Motor cars

01-DB-BB, registration 1999/2000
01-FB-BB, registration 2000
01-GB-BB, registration 2000/2001
01-HB-BB, registration 2001/2002
01-JB-BB, registration 2002
01-LB-BB, registration 2002/2003
01-NB-BB, registration 2003/2004
01-PB-BB, registration 2004/2005
01-RB-BB, registration 2005
01-SB-BB, registration 2005/2006
01-TB-BB, registration 2006/2007
01-XB-BB, registration 2007
01-ZB-BB, registration 2007/2008 till 76-ZS-KB
01-GBB-1, registration 2008
00-HBB-1, registration 2008/2009
00-JBB-1, registration 2009
00-KBB-1, registration 2009/2010
00-LBB-1, registration 2010
00-NBB-1, registration 2010/2011
00-PBB-1, registration 2011
00-RBB-1, registration 2011
00-SBB-1, registration 2011
00-TBB-1, registration 2012
00-XBB-1, registration 2012
00-ZBB-1, registration 2012/2013 till 79-ZXT-2
1-KBB-00, registration 2013
1-SBB-00, registration 2013
1-TBB-00, registration 2013/2014
1-XBB-00, registration 2014
1-ZBB-00, registration 2014/2015 till 8-ZVK-67
GB-001-B, registration 2015
HB-001-B, registration 2015/2016
JB-001-B, registration 2016
KB-001-B, registration 2016

NB-001-B, registration 2016/2017
PB-001-B, registration 2017
RB-001-B, registration 2017/2018
SB-001-B, registration 2018
TB-001-B, registration 2018
XB-001-B, registration 2018/2019
ZB-001-B, registration 2019 till ZV-183-Z
G-001-BB, registration 2019
H-001-BB, registration 2019/2020
J-001-BB, registration 2020
K-001-BB, registration 2020/2021
L-001-BB, registration 2021
N-001-BB, registration 2021/2022
P-001-BB, registration 2022
R-001-BB, registration 2022
S-001-BB, registration 2022/2023 No S-001-DB to S-999-DZ
T-001-BB, registration 2023
X-001-BB, registration 2023/2024
Z-001-BB, registration 2024 till Z-671-SB
GBB-01-B, registration 2024/2025
HBB-01-B, registration 2025
JBB-01-B, registration 2025

..S-01-D to..S-99-D and..S-01-S to..S-99-S will not be used, and also.SD-01-B to.SD-99-Z and.SS-01-B to.SS-99-Z will not be used to avoid SD and SS combinations.

Motorcycles

MB-01-BB, registration 1979/1998
MB-BB-01, registration 1998/2011
01-MB-BB, registration 2011/present

Mopeds

01-DBB-1, registration 2005/2006
01-FBB-1, registration 2006
DB-001-B, registration 2006
FB-001-B, registration 2006/2008
D-001-BB, registration 2008/2011
F-001-BB, registration 2011/2015
DBB-01-B, registration 2015/2020
FBB-01-B, registration 2020/present

D/FBS-01-D to D/FBS-99-D and D/FBS-01-S to D/FBS-99-S is not used, to avoid SD and SS combinations. Also, D/FxS-01-D to D/FxS-99-D and D/FxS-01-S to D/FxS-99-S will not be used; and this also for D/FSD-01-B till D/FSD-99-Z and D/FSS-01-B till D/FSS-99-Z for the same reason.

Trucks/Lorries (payload 3.5 tons or more)

BB-BB-01, registration 1994/2012
00-BBB-1, registration 2012/2025 BSD and BSS are both not used to avoid SD and SS combinations.
BB-001-B,

Trucks/Lorries (payload less than or 3.5 tons)

VB-BB-01, registration 1991/1998
01-VB-BB, registration 1998/2002
01-BB-BB, registration 2002/2006
01-VBB-1, registration 2006/2009
1-VBB-00, registration 2009/2012
VB-001-B, registration 2012/2016
V-001-BB, registration 2016/2019
VBB-01-B, registration 2019/2024 No VVD-01-B to VVD-99-Z read just below.
V-01-BBB, registration 2024 till nowadays

VBS-01-D to VBS-99-D and VBS-01-S to VBS-99-S is not used, to avoid SD and SS combinations. Also VxS-01-D to VxS-99-D and VxS-01-S to VxS-99-S will not be used for the same reason. Also VSD-01-B to VSD-99-Z and VSS-01-B to VSS-99-Z is not be used for the same reason. No VVD-01-B to VVD-99-Z because VVD is a political party.
On 8 January 2024 after V-42-BBB follows immediately V-01-DBB because BBB is a political party. To avoid SD and SS combinations V-01-xSD till V-99-xSD and V-01-xSS till V-99-xSS is/will not used, x is D t/m Z. FVD, GVD, KGB, KKK, KVT, LPF and NSB are not used.

Trailers

WB-00-01, registration 1963/1977
00-01-WB, registration 1977/1983
00-WB-01, registration 1983/1989
WB-01-BB, registration 1989/2000
WB-BB-01, registration 2000/2008
01-WB-BB, registration 2008/2021
00-WBB-1, registration 2021/present

Semi-Trailers

OB-00-01, registration 1963/1988
OB-01-BB, registration 1988/present

Agricultural Vehicles

LBB-01-B, registration 2021/present

LBS-01-D to LBS-99-D and LBS-01-S to LBS-99-S is not used to avoid SD and SS combinations. Also in the future, LxS-01-D to LxS-99-D and LxS-01-S to LxS-99-S will not be used for the same reason. LPF is not used.

Tractors

TBB-01-B, registration 2021. TBS is not used. TSD and TSS are both not used to avoid SD and SS combinations. TDS-01-D to TDS-99-D and TDS-01-S to TDS-99-S is not used, to avoid SD and SS combinations. Also TxS-01-D to TxS-99-D and TxS-01-S to TxS-99-S is not be used, for the same reason. Also TSD-01-B to TSD-99-Z and TSS-01-B to TSS-99-Z is not be used for the same reason.
T-01-BBB, registration 31 December 2021/present

No T-..-xSD and no T-..-xSS, x is the second letter B to Z, to avoid SD and SS combinations. There exists T-01-FVD till T-99-FVD despite FVD is a political party! GVD is not used.

Electric scooters

E-01-BBD registration 1 July 2025/present. No BBB because BBB is a political party.

And see now also

Special-use license plates

This list is not exhaustive. The Dutch Wikipedia article Nederlands kenteken contains more exceptions.

Vehicle registration

Since 1 January 2014, the Netherlands has had an all-plastic vehicle registration in credit card format. This and the driving license are the only things needed to bring along while driving in the Netherlands. This registration has the same green appearance for every vehicle category, only the information on the card differs. It has a chip with more detailed information about the vehicle. All previously issued vehicle registrations will remain valid until the car changes ownership, or until the owner requests replacement vehicle registration documents. While a so-called overschrijvingsbewijs was needed previously to sell the vehicle, this has now been replaced with a code. The registration card and the correct code are enough to sell the vehicle, even without the original letter stating the code as issued during the new car registration.