International Vehicle Registration Codes
That white oval on the back of a car tells you where it’s registered. Look up any country code — D, F, CH, GB — or search by country to find its code.
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These are the distinguishing signs set by the 1949 Geneva and 1968 Vienna road-traffic conventions (maintained by UNECE) — the oval plate shown separately from the number plate. Many newer codes match the country’s ISO letters, but older ones don’t (CH = Confoederatio Helvetica, RCH = República de Chile). The UK changed from GB to UK in 2021; both are listed since GB stickers are still common.
What country is the oval code on a car?
The white oval shows the country of registration: D is Germany, F France, CH Switzerland, E Spain, NL the Netherlands, GB/UK the United Kingdom, RCH Chile. Type any code above to identify it, or search by country to find a code.
Methodology: Codes are the distinguishing signs of the State of registration under the 1949 Geneva and 1968 Vienna conventions on road traffic, maintained by the UN Economic Commission for Europe; this list holds 186 current codes. The lookup matches an exact code first, then codes beginning with what you type, then country-name matches (for queries of two letters or more, so a single letter returns codes rather than every country containing it). Historical and recently changed codes such as GB are included where they remain in common use, with a note; it identifies the country of registration only and isn’t a live registration-plate database. How we test & calculate.
Decoding the car in front on the autobahn
Drive anywhere in Europe and you’ll see them: little white ovals with one, two or three letters. They’re the road’s equivalent of an aircraft’s registration — a quick badge of where the vehicle comes from. Some are obvious, but plenty aren’t, and that’s the fun: a car marked CH isn’t from China, and RCH isn’t a typo. Type whatever you spotted and find out where it’s from.
A century of history in two letters
The system goes back to a 1909 Paris convention, and the oldest codes were built from each country’s own name — D for Deutschland, E for España, CH for the Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. Newer entrants mostly took their ISO letters instead, so the list is a mix of the cryptic and the familiar. The “R” codes — RA, RCH, RI, RL — are a giveaway of the French-influenced “République” naming used across many former colonies.
Planning to drive abroad?
The code follows the car’s country of registration, not the driver, which matters for rental cars and for the post-Brexit UK switch from GB to UK. If you’re heading off on a road trip, it’s worth pairing this with the driving-abroad guide and the speed-limits-by-countrytool so you’ve got the paperwork and the rules straight before you cross a border.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oval sticker on the back of a car?
It’s the international vehicle registration code — formally the “distinguishing sign of the State of registration” — a white oval with one to three black letters showing which country the vehicle is registered in. It’s required, separately from the number plate, when driving across borders under the 1949 Geneva and 1968 Vienna road-traffic conventions. So a car with D is from Germany, F from France, CH from Switzerland, and so on.
Why don’t the codes match the country names?
The oldest codes date from 1910 and were based on the country’s name in its own language or in French, not English — so CH is Switzerland (Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name), E is Spain (España), and FL is Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein). A whole group from former colonies use the French “République de…” pattern: RCH is Chile, RG Guinea, RH Haiti. Codes assigned more recently tend to match the country’s ISO letters, which is why newer ones look more familiar.
Is it GB or UK now?
The United Kingdom changed its code from GB to UK on 28 September 2021, partly to be inclusive of Northern Ireland (which isn’t part of Great Britain). UK is now the correct code, and GB stickers and plates are technically no longer valid for driving abroad — but there are millions still on the road, so both are listed here. If you’re fitting a new sticker for a trip to the continent, use UK.
Do I still need the oval sticker in Europe?
Often not. Within the European Economic Area, a number plate already showing the country code in the blue strip on the left (the EU-format plate) satisfies the requirement, so no separate oval is needed. Outside that — including UK plates since Brexit — a separate UK sticker is required to drive in most of Europe. The rules are about the country of registration, not your nationality, so a rental car carries the code of the country it’s registered in.
How many codes are there and are they current?
This list has 186 codes covering countries and territories worldwide, taken from the UNECE register of distinguishing signs. The codes are a stable international standard and change only occasionally — usually when a country renames or a territory’s status changes — so the mapping stays current far longer than things like fares or schedules. Recent changes such as the UK’s GB→UK and Egypt’s ET→EG are reflected, with the older code kept where it’s still commonly seen.