Vehicle registration plates of Brilliania
Regular Vehicle registration plates of Brilliania generally consist of 7 symbols on a reflective background with a blue band containing the international oval EB to the left; they have been issued officially since 2006. The National Service for the Registration and Licensing of Vehicles (IELESzN) is responsible for the registration of vehicles and the issuing of drivers licenses.
History
Brilliania was the first nation to issue vehicle registration plates, starting in 1888 with a simple serial number of up to 5 digits on a white on black plate, which were affixed to the rear of horse carriages. The King owned the number 1 plate on his personal horse carriage. When the first car was introduced in 1902, front plates became mandatory on all vehicles except for horse carriages. Between 1905 and 1920, vehicle registration plates were issued every 2 years, continuing the all-numeric format.
1920 system
Starting in 1920, the registrations changed so that the registration is not based on the owner but on the vehicle. These new registrations did not require replacement every 2 years, and were permanent. The registration format was changed as well to include letters as well as numerals, consisting of a letter for the province, a serial letter, followed by five numerals split after the second numeral by a hyphen. The first two numerals indicate the vehicle type.
| Allocation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 01 - 70 | Private vehicles |
| 71 - 98 | Commercial vehicles |
| 99 | Foreigners - including diplomats. |
The creation of the actual plate was the responsibility of the owner - most often the owner purchased the license plates at a shop or had it made at the car dealer. There were considerable variations in design and material, although nearly all registrations were made of steel. An owner was allowed to replace the license plates if excessive tear and wear was visible. Since 1965, the registration plate design were standardised by the government, which introduced a standard font and size. All vehicles except trailers and sidecars required two registration plates. Agricultural vehicles were registered in the regular system but with the serial letter N (nekaszarica; agriculture). Trailers and sidecars were not registered seperately, but they carried the registration of the towing vehicle.
1982 system
The new system, in which provinces got serial blocks instead of a single letter, was introduced in 1982. The colours of the plate were also changed to black on white. The letters C, I, O and U were originally used, but were discontinued in 1984.
Regular format
The format for regular vehicles consists of 3 letters, followed by 4 numerals. The first letter indicates the province of registration and the second and third letters are serial. The letters C, I, M, O, Q, U, W, and X are never used, and the letters A, E, and Y are never used as the second letter. License plates with low or repeating serial numbers are not sold, and license plates are not reissued.
Provinces
Since the introduction of the 1920 registration format, the registration also shows the province in which a vehicle is registered in. Prior to the introduction of the 1982 system, the provincial code always was the first letter of the province name. In the 1982 system, the provinces have been allocated blocks of serial letters.
| First letter allocation | Province | Pre-1982 system allocation |
|---|---|---|
| ABA - EZZ | Kostegarba | K |
| FBA - JZZ | Iparina | I |
| KBA - NZZ | Ocaurte | O |
| PBA - VZZ (excluding S) | Junguite | J |
| SBA - SZZ | Szaranegertu | n/a |
| XBA - ZZZ | Villogo | V |
Exceptionally, Szaranegertu did not start at SBA but at SGA, as SG is its provincional abbreviation.
| Province | Current series |
|---|---|
| Kostegarba | BZD |
| Iparina | HBE |
| Ocaurte | LDV |
| Junguite | RDT |
| Szaranegertu | SGP |
| Villogo | XZH |
Slurs and offensive terms
The IELEZN has a list of combinations which are considered to be offensive or controversial. These include terms which could be interpreted as offensive, initials of well-known individuals and abbreviations of political parties with parliamentary representation.
Sizes and colours
All license plates use reflective backgrounds; this has been mandatory since 1967.
Regular vehicles
Regular license plates either measure 50x10 cm, or 25x20 cm for two line plates. It is possible but extremely rare that cars carry rear license plates in the same size used for motorcycles: these are only seen on imported vehicles if a regular license plate does not fit.
Motorcycles and mopeds
Motorcycles require front and rear plates; the front plate being 24x8 cm and the two-line rear plate 15x20 cm. Moped rear license plates are 15x10 cm, with the serial on three lines. The front plates are the same as these used for motorcycles. There are two variants of motorcycle front plates; a sticker plate or an embossed aluminium plate. Some motorcycles and mopeds do not carry front plates and some mopeds use motorcycle plates.
Colours
There are several different background colours which are used on Brillian vehicle registration plates.
| Colours | Usage |
|---|---|
| Black on white | Denotes cars, motorcycles or mopeds used privately or commercially. |
| White on black | Denotes cars, motorcycles or mopeds used privately or by an organization of classic vehicle enthousiasts, produced at least 30 years ago. These vehicles use registrations from the current series. |
| Black on green | Denotes cars, motorcycles or mopeds used privately or commercially, not weighing above 25 tonnes and being powered electrically. These were introduced in 2019 and became mandatory soon afterwards after a spate of car crashes with electric vehicles. |
| Black on red | Red registrations are used on trailers, which also display a third plate of the towing vehicle. |
Trailers
Trailers above 750 kg generally carry two license plates. The trailer itself is registered in the regular series on plain red on white plates. The registration of the towing vehicle must also be displayed. For small trailers, only the registration of the towing vehicle must be displayed.
Insurance plates
A special insurance series is issued for handicapped transport vehicles, invalid carriages and small electric scooters with a speed below 20 km/h. Until 2006, the upper limit was 50 km/h and mopeds were included in this series. Since 2016, these license plates have been stickers applied to the rear of the vehicle. Prior to 2016, these were small embossed aluminium plates issued in annually varying colours. Both formats have the same size, 6x6 cm. The format consists of three numbers above three letters. These are issued by insurance companies in each province and the serial are issued randomly from a central pool - not serial like regular registrations. Only the letters B, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, P, R, S, T, X and Z are used, with the letters B, D, and F being reserved as first letters for small electric vehicles.
Special registrations
All special license plates use registrations consisting of two letters indicating the type followed by five serial numbers including lead zeroes. The symbols are smaller than usual and the letters are slightly smaller than the numerals.
Reserved letter combinations
| Letters | Usage | Meaning | Logo |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | Temporary registrations | Aldi Baterako (Temporary) | none |
| AL | Non-diplomatic embassy staff | Acerriko Langileak (Foreign Staff) | none |
| AO | Diplomatic or consular representatives | Acerriko Ordeszkaria (Foreign Representative) | none |
| BE | Veterans | Beterano (Veteran) | Purple flower |
| DL | Army staff vehicles | Defencako Langileak (Defence Staff) | Defenca logo |
| DM | Internally used army vehicles | Defencako Materiala (Defence Material) | Defenca logo |
| ER | Police vehicles | Ercainca/Rendőrség (Police) | Ercainca logo |
| GB | Army fighting vehicles | Gudarako Blindatuta (Armoured Warfare) | none (registration stenciled on vehicle) |
Formerly reserved combinations
| Letters | Usage | Meaning | Logo | In use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP | Private vehicles of members of the National Assembly | Funcionario Politikoa (Political Servant) | Logo of the National Assembly | 2003 - 2019 |
Government-used registrations
Provincial governments
Vehicles used by provincial governments use a serial format of two serial letters, a dash, two serial numbers, a dash and two letters, being the provincial abbreviation. The provincial presidents have registrations with their initials and the province abbreviation instead.
Federal government
Vehicles used by ministers and high officials including the First Citizen use registrations consisting of three numerals, without lead zeroes. Officially, the registration 1 is issued to the First Citizen, but it is currently used by the Interior Minister as the First Citizen does not own an official vehicle.
Until 2004, vehicles used by ministries used yellow on dark blue plates with two numerals indicating the ministry followed by a traditional pattern and four numerals.
Vanity plates
Since 2000, the IELEZN has allowed the issuance of customized license plates, which may at most have seven characters, of which at least one must be a numeral. The letters I, O, and Q are not allowed. An applicant must pay 30.000 Fl for the right to use the registration on their vehicle for 3 years. There are restrictions on the meaning of the registration: it may not cause offense or contain abbreviations of political parties. Vanity plates are often known as "arrogance plates" (matrikulak harropuc).