The Guidelines that DVLA Have for Private Number Plates*

The main reason that people want to personalise their number plates is because it allows them to add a unique and special touch to their vehicle. Of course, having a personalised number plate gives you plenty more freedom than an assigned one, however, what you may not realise is that you still have some guidelines that you need to follow.

To make sure that you still stand out from the crowd, but that you are within the law; here are some of the DVLA guidelines that you need to keep in mind for private number plates.

Credit

How to display your number plates
The first rule that you should keep in mind is how your number plates should be displayed. These guidelines don’t just relate to private number plates, but also those that come with your car too.

The reason that there are guidelines on how your number plates are displayed is so that you can have consistency across all the vehicles on the road. It is also much easier for police and other emergency services to identify your vehicle. Particularly in the case of theft or an accident.

Your number plate needs to be made from a reflective material, it needs to have black characters on a white background (for the front plate) and black characters on a yellow background (for the back plate). You also need to make sure that your number plate does not feature a background pattern.

How your number plates should be formatted
Just like the display, number plates in the UK should also follow the same format too. This format is two letters, two numbers, a space and three other letters. In a standard number plate, the first two letters are the memory tag which DVLA assigns to a city or location. This will tell you where the car was registered.

The next two numbers are the age indicators of the vehicle and these will change twice a year.

When you have a personalised number plate you must ensure that the characters are never in a stylised font and that they are easy to read. You should never use the bolts that attach the number plates to the car as a way to change how it looks.

That said, you can make sure that you personalise your plate. You can use fonts that are 3D, which can look really great. You can also add a border to your number plate too. This should not be reflective and it should also never interfere with the characters on your number plate.

You are also legally entitled to add a flag to your number plate. This includes the Union Jack Flag, the Cross of St George, the Cross of St Andrew and the Red Dragon of Wales too.

As you can see, whilst there are guidelines to follow for your number plates, there are still plenty of ways that you can make them your own! So, why not check out a personalised number plate and see if you can transform your car into something unique?