Why are European license plates so long and skinny compared to American ones? – Jalopnik

While American license plates can vary quite dramatically in style and appearance, especially when it comes to the amazing array of vanity plate ideas, in Europe it’s a different story. The designs are much more uniform, as evidenced by its history.

In Britain, for example, although the formats have changed over time, they have always adhered to a certain and strict style. Before 1963 they had what are now known as ‘dateless’ records; these were usually (but not always) in a 3 X 3 format, with a group of up to three letters next to a group of up to three numbers. And while the combination of letters and numbers would be unique, it would not contain any information that would date the license plate or the vehicle.

That changed in ’63. At this point most plates adopted a 3 X 4 “suffix” style; three letters, followed by three numbers and then one letter – that last letter would be the date designation, referring to the year the car was first registered. Once the alphabet was exhausted, minus letters like ‘I’ and ‘Z’ that could be misread as numbers, the suffix style changed to a 4 X 3 ‘prefix’ style, with a date designation letter preceding three numbers and then three letters. Some prefix and suffix plates would be shorter, with only one or two digits instead of three, although the date number always remained.

A new design was implemented in 2001. All plates would now be seven digits long. Two letters indicating the area where the car was registered, followed by two numbers for the date and then three random letters at the end. Over time, the British plates also changed from silver-on-black colors to black-on-white on the front and black-on-yellow on the back.

Most EU countries use similar systems. For example, German license plates are all black-on-white and use an area identifier of one to three letters, then one or two letters and one to four numbers to create the unique identification. Combine such systems with prescribed font sizes – too small can make them harder for police and speed cameras to read, and too large can be seen as unnecessary – and the European Union (EU) standard plate size effectively determined itself.