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Number Plate Formats

Prior to 1903, there was no regulated system of registering vehicles, although it was a requirement for every vehicle to be licensed by the local County, or County Borough Council. The Motor Car Act 1903 introduced a system of vehicle registrations, and set a requirement for all vehicles to clearly display their registration numbers in a prominent location, although there was no set location, nor approved manner of display.

It was only with the Roads Act 1920, Councils had to register all vehicles at the time of licensing and a uniform method of display was determined; that being a black backing plate, with the registration mark affixed in a polished silver colour.

Both the backing plate and the alphanumeric characters were made from metal initially, accounting for the silver colouring, but as time progressed and Bakelite became a commonplace material, white characters became available, and were incorporated into common use:

Early style number plates, available until the mid 1930's, used cast aluminium backing plates, finished with black enamel, using polished characters 3.5inches (88mm) in height.

Then up until the 1960's, pressed aluminium backing plates were used (21"x 5" / 532mm x 126mm) with optional silver borders. Registration mark characters remained at 3.5inches (88mm) in height, but were available in white Bakelite as well as polished silver aluminium.

Between 1963 and 1973, an extra character had been added to registration marks, so the dimensions of the backing plates changed to accommodate this, now measuring 20.5"x 4.5" (520mm x 115mm). The height of the registration characters also changed, with a height of 3.125inches (79mm), again still available in white Bakelite.

From 1st January, 1973, a completely new style of number plate was instigated, replacing the old white or silver characters on a black backing plate. The new number plate style consisted of black adhesive characters on a white reflective acrylic plate at the front, and black characters on a yellow reflective acrylic plate at the rear.

From the 1st September 2001 a new registration format was introduced, however with the exception of more rigid regulations about font styling and spacing, this is the same number plate style that has been in place since 1973.