List of aircraft registration prefixes

This is a list of aircraft registration prefixes used by civil aircraft.

Post-1928 allocations

Current allocations

The 1928 prefixes have been amended and added to over the years, with the current markings being:

Retired allocations

Some post-1928 prefixes have been retired due to various reasons, including decolonization and the dissolution of sovereign states.

Country/territory or region	Registration prefix	Adopted	Retired	Replaced with	Presentation and notes
Aden	VR-A	1939	1939		British colonial allocation
Algeria	F-O	1929	1962	7T	French colonial allocation
Angola	CR-L	1929	1975	D2	Portuguese colonial allocation
Argentina	R	1929	1932	LV
Austria	A	1929	1939	OE
Bahamas	VP-B	1929	1975	C6	British colonial allocation
Barbados	VQ-B	1952	1968	8P	British colonial allocation
Basutoland	VQ-ZA, VQ-ZD	1929	1967	7P	British colonial allocation
Bechuanaland	VQ-ZE, VQ-ZH	1929	1968	A2	British protectorate allocation
Bermuda	VR-B	1931		VP-B	British colonial allocation
Bosnia and Herzegovina	T9			E7
Brunei	VR-U	1929		V8	British colonial allocation
Burundi	BR	1962	1965	9U
Cambodia	F-KH	1945	1954	KW	French colonial allocation
Cambodia	KW	1954		XU
Cameroon	F-O	1929	1960	TJ	French colonial allocation
Cameroon	VR-N	1929	1958	TJ, 5N	British colonial allocation
Canada	CF	1929	1974	C
Cape Verde	CR-C	1929		D4	Portuguese colonial allocation
Cayman Islands	VR-C	1968		VP-C	British colonial allocation
Ceylon	VP-C	1929	1948	CY	British colonial allocation
Ceylon	CY	1948	1954	4R
Chad	F-O	1929	1960	TT	French colonial allocation
China	XT	1929	1949	B
Colombia	C	1929	1946	HK	C was reallocated to Canada in 1974
Congo	F-O	1929	1960	TN	French colonial allocation
Congo	OO-C	1929	1960	9O	Belgian colonial allocation
Cote D'Ivoire	F-O	1929	1960	TU	French colonial allocation
Cyprus	VQ-C	1952	1960	5B	British colonial allocation
Czechoslovakia	OK	1929	1993		Following dissolution, the allocation of OK went to the Czech Republic, while Slovakia was allocated the new prefix OM
Dahomey/Benin	F-O	1929	1960	TY	French colonial allocation
Danzig	YM	1929	1939	D
Dutch East Indies	JZ	1945			Dutch colonial allocation
East Germany	DDR	1945	1956	DM
East Germany	DM	1956		D	Replaced with D after German reunification
Estonia	ES	1929	1939/1940	СССР	Allocation restored following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Fiji	VQ-F	1929	1971	DQ	British colonial allocation
Finland	K-S	1919	1931	OH	Prefix carried over from pre-1928 allocation
France	FC	1940	1944	F	Free France
Gabon	F-O	1929	1960	TR	French colonial allocation
Gambia	VP-X	1929	1945		British colonial/protectorate allocation
Gold Coast	VP-A	1929	1957	9G	British colonial allocation
Gibraltar	VR-G	1929	1939	G	British colonial allocation
Grenada	VQ-G	1962		J3	British colonial allocation
Guatemala	LG	1936	1948	TG
Guiana	VP-G	1929	1967	8R	British colonial allocation
Guinea	F-O	1929	1958	3X	French colonial allocation
Guinea-Bissau/Guinea	CR-G	1929	1975	J5	Portuguese colonial allocation
Honduras	XH	1929	1960	HR
British Honduras	VP-H	1947		V3	British colonial allocation
Hong Kong	VR-H	1929		B-H	British colonial allocation
India	CR-I	1929	1961	VT	Portuguese colonial allocation
Indochina	F-VN	1929	1954	XV	French colonial allocation
Iran	RV	1929	1944	EP
Jamaica	VP-J	1930	1964	6Y	British colonial allocation
Japan	J	1929	1945	JA, JR	Japanese aviation was temporarily banned following the end of WWII
Jersey	ZJ	2015	2022		ZJ-AAA to ZJ-ZZZ, excluding combinations only containing the letters I, O, or S. Only four aircraft were registered with this prefix.
Johor	VR-J	1929	1963	9M	British protectorate allocation
Kampuchea	XU	1954	1979
Katanga	KA	1961	1963	9O	Unofficial separatist allocation
Kenya	VP-K	1929	1963	5Y	British colonial allocation
Kuwait	K	1967	1968	9K
Laos	F-L	1945	1954	XW	French colonial allocation
Laos	XW	1954	1975	RDPL
Latvia	YL	1929	1939/1940	СССР	Allocation restored following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Lebanon	LR	1944	1954	OD
Leeward and Windward Islands	VP-L	1929		V2	British colonial allocation
Liberia	LI	1929	1952	EL
Liberia	EL	1952		A8
Lithuania	LY	1929	1939/1940	СССР	Allocation restored following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Lithuania	RY	1929	1939	СССР
Luxembourg	UL	1929	1939	LX
Macau	CR-M	1929		CS-M	Portuguese colonial allocation
Macau	CS-M		1999	B-M	Portuguese colonial allocation
Madagascar	F-O	1929	1960	5R	French colonial allocation
Malaya	VR-R	1929	1963	9M	British colonial allocation
Mali	F-O	1929	1960	TZ	French colonial allocation
Malta	VP-M	1929	1968	9H	British colonial allocation
Mauritania	F-O	1929	1960	5T	French colonial allocation
Mauritius	VQ-M	1929	1968	3B	British colonial allocation
Monaco	CZ	1929	1949	MC
Monaco	MC	1949	1959	3A
Morocco	F-D	1929	1952	CN	French colonial allocation
Mozambique	CR-A	1929	1975	C9	Portuguese colonial allocation
Mozambique	CR-B	1971	1975	C9	Portuguese colonial allocation
New Zealand	ZM	1929	1939	ZK, ZL, ZM	Allocation later restored
Newfoundland	VO	1929	1939	CF	British colonial allocation
Nicaragua	YN	1929	1936	AN	Allocation later restored
Nicaragua	AN	1939		YN
Niger	F-O	1929	1960	5U	French colonial allocation
North Borneo	VR-O	1929	1963	9M	British colonial/protectorate allocation
Northern Rhodesia	VP-R	1929	1953	VP-Y	British protectorate allocation
Nyasaland	VP-N	1929	1953	VP-Y	British colonial allocation
Nyasaland	VP-Y	1953	1964	7Q, 9J	British colonial allocation
Palestine	VQ-P	1930	1948	4X	British mandatory allocation. Following the end of the British Mandate, the successor state of Israel was allocated the prefix 4X.
Panama	R	1929	1943	RX
Panama	RX	1943	1952	HP
Peru	OA	1929	1950	OB
Philippines	PI	1941	1975	RP
Rhodesia	VP-Y	1929	1964	7Q, 9J	British colonial allocation
Rhodesia	VP-W	1971		Z	British colonial allocation
Romania	CV	1929	1936	YR
Ruanda-Urundi	OO-C				Belgian colonial allocation
Saar Territory	TS	1930	1931	EZ	Unofficial British/French mandatory allocation
Saar Territory	EZ	1929	1933	SL	British/French mandatory allocation
Saar Territory	SL	1947	1959	D	French protectorate allocation
Saint Kitts and Nevis	VP-LK, VP-LL			V4	British colonial allocation
Saint Lucia	VQ-L	1965		J6	British colonial allocation
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VP-V	1959		J8	British colonial allocation
Sarawak	VR-W	1929			British colonial allocation
Saudi Arabia	UH	1945		HZ
Senegal	F-O	1929	1960	6V	French colonial allocation
Seychelles	VQ-S	1929	1977	S7	British colonial allocation
Sierra Leone	VR-L	1929	1961	9L	British protectorate allocation
Singapore	VR-S	1929	1965	9V	British colonial allocation
Somalia/Somaliland	VP-S	1929	1960	6OS	British colonial allocation
Somalia/Somaliland	6OS	1960	1969	6O
South Vietnam	XV	1959	1975
Southern Rhodesia	VP-Y	1929	1964	7Q, 9J	British colonial allocation
Soviet Union	СССР	1929		Multiple	Written in Cyrillic script, equivalent to "SSSR" in Latin script
Spain	M	1929	1933	EC
Sudan	SN	1929	1953	ST	British/Egyptian colonial allocation
Swaziland	VQ-ZI	1929	1975	3D	British colonial allocation
Switzerland	CH	1929	1936	HB
Tonga	VQ-F	1929	1971	DQ	British protectorate allocation
Transjordan	TJ	1946	1954	JY	British protectorate allocation
Trinidad and Tobago	VP-T	1931	1965	9Y	British colonial allocation
Tunisia	F-O	1929	1956	TS	French colonial allocation
Ubangi-Shari	F-O	1929	1960	TL	French colonial allocation
Uganda	VP-U	1929	1962	5X	British protectorate allocation
Upper Volta	F-O	1929	1960	XT	French colonial allocation
Vietnam	3W	1954	1959	XV
Weihaiwei	VP-W	1929	1939		British colonial allocation
Western Pacific Territories	VP-P	1929		H4	British colonial allocation
Yemen	YE	1955	1969	4W
Yemen	4W	1969		7O
Yugoslavia	UN	1929	1935	YU
Zaire	9O	1960	1966	9Q
Zanzibar	VP-Z	1929	1964	5H	British protectorate allocation