 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2012) |
Uruguay requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates .
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2012) |
Uruguay requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates .
Until the early 2000s, the codes, designs, sizes, and colors of vehicle license plates varied in each department. In 2001, by agreement of the National Congress of Mayors, it was decided to implement the new alphanumeric system (3 letters and 4 numbers) for the entire country. During that year and at the beginning of 2002, the new system was adopted in Montevideo, [1] [2] that spread throughout all the departments of the country, except Maldonado and Salto. In March 2015, the Single Patent of Mercosur began to be implemented, which has been mandatory since 2016. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Maldonado was the only department that did not adopt the new alphanumeric license plate system for automobiles during the first decade of the 2000s (like the rest of the departments), except for motorcycles and some special license plates (such as those of ediles, intendencia, officials, tourism, professional freight transport, taxis and remises). Finally, on January 4, 2019, the department began to implement the Mercosur license plates, [7] with the particularity of indicating each municipality by a badge added below the patent plate (in addition to the second letter of the series).
In the case of Salto, an alphanumeric system of 3 letters and 3 numbers was adopted, with the shield of the department larger than other departments in the center of the license plate. In 2015, the Mercosur patent was implemented with 3 letters and 4 numbers starting from HAA 1000.
Plates issued in each department begin with a one-letter code. These codes, used on the unique local issues of the past, have carried over to the current national series as part of the standard nationwide format.
Prior to the introduction of this series[ when? ], plates issued in each department had a unique design, in many instances displaying only the name of the municipality, rather than that of the department or the country. The change echoes that made in Argentina in 1994 with the change to a national plate series displaying the nation's name rather than a more local designation.
Under the current plate series, a single serial number format of ABC 1234 (and ABC 123 for motorcycles) has been introduced for the entire country, with either the country name, the vehicle type, or both displayed on the plate. Now absent are department or municipality designations, except for the small official logos displayed on many plates, one between the letters and numbers indicating the department of registration and another in the lower right corner indicating the municipality of registration. Plates in the current series employ FE-Schrift for their serials.
Some older plates are still in use, but evidently they are being replaced with plates of the current series, as even many antique cars have plates from the current series.
Italicized letters indicate a departmental code; bold letters indicate a fixed type code that appears on all plates of a particular type:
| Image | Type | Legend | Serial format | Design | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Spanish | ||||
 | Passenger | Particular | URUGUAY | ABC 1234 | black on white |
 | Motorcycle | Motocicleta | URUGUAY | ABC 123 | black on white |
 | Official | Oficial | OFICIAL—URUGUAY | SOF 1234 | blue on white |
 | Ambulance | Ambulancia | URUGUAY | AAM 1234 | green on white; embossed cross in lower left corner |
 | Doctor | Médico | URUGUAY | AME 1234 | green on white; embossed cross in lower left corner |
 | Departmental Assembly | Edil Junta Departamental | EDIL JUNTA DEPARTAMENTAL | AED 1234 | white on light blue; screened type designation |
 | President of Departmental Assembly | Presidente de la Junta Departamental | PRESIDENTE J. DEPARTAMENTAL | APE 1 | |
| Diplomatic | Diplomático | URUGUAY | SCD 1234 | black on white | |
| Diplomatic— Motorcycle | Diplomático—Motocicleta | URUGUAY | SCD 123 | black on white | |
| Diplomatic— Consular Corps | Diplomático—Cuerpo Consular | URUGUAY | SCC 1234 | black on white | |
| Diplomatic—Consular Corps—Motorcycle | Diplomático—Cuerpo Consular—Motocicleta | URUGUAY | SCC 123 | black on white | |
| Government | Gobierno | URUGUAY | SAB 1234 | black on white | |
| Government—unknown type | ? | URUGUAY | SAB 1234 | white on orange | |
| International organization | Organización internacional | URUGUAY | SOI 1234 | black on white | |
| National Representative | Representante Nacional | REPRESENTANTE NACIONAL | ARN 1234 | blue on white | |
| Non-governmental organization | Organización no gubernamental | URUGUAY | SNG 1234 | black on white | |
 | Livery | Remise | REMISE | ARE 1234 | black on yellow |
 | Taxi | TAXI | ATX 1234 | black on yellow | |
 | Public transportation | Transporte colectivo | URUGUAY | ATC 1234 | black on yellow |
| School | Escolar | ESCOLAR | AES 1234 | black on yellow | |
 | Tourist van | Turismo | TURISMO—URUGUAY | AMT 1234 | black on yellow |
| Tourist bus | Turismo | TURISMO—URUGUAY | ATU 1234 | white on blue | |
| Truck | Carga | CARGA URUGUAY | ATP 1234 | black on white | |
 | Rental motorcycle | Motocicleta—Alquiler | URUGUAY | AAL 123 | black on yellow |
 | Rental vehicle | Alquiler | ALQUILER—URUGUAY | AAL 1234 | black on white |
While also issued by department with the same codes, these plates employ varying designs, with unique plate sizes and shapes, dies, and color schemes and may identify the municipality of registration rather than the department itself. Many plates featured a white and blue color scheme.
Italicized letters indicate a departmental code; bold letters indicate a fixed type code that appears on all plates of a particular type:
 |
| Image | Location and/or type | Serial format | Design | Legend(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomatic | CC 123? | white on blue | ? | |
 | National Navy | 123 | black on white; embossed anchor at center | "ARMADA" |
  | Public safety/government | MI 12-345 MI 123456 | black on white or blue on white; variety of manufacturing styles | none |
 | Artigas Department | GA-1234 | blue on white | "ARTIGAS"; "ROU" debossed in embossed box at left |
 | Canelones Department | ABC 123 | ||
 | Caneloles Department—Official | A 1234 | white on blue | "OFICIAL URUGUAY" |
 | Cerro Largo Department — Melo city | EM-12345 | black on white | "CERRO LARGO" embossed at top; "ROU" embossed vertically at left; "MELO" embossed vertically at right; the small M below the hyphen also indicates the city |
  | Colonia Department | LA-1234 | blue on white | "COLONIA" debossed within embossed square that contains the "L"; "URUGUAY" at top. Some plates have a full-color seal, while others do not. |
| Durazno Department | QAB-123 | dark blue on gold | "DURAZNO - ROU" at bottom | |
| Maldonado Department — Maldonado | B 112-345 | black on white | "Maldonado" at bottom; first number signifies city | |
| Maldonado Department— Piriápolis | B 712-345 | black on white | "PIRIAPOLIS" at bottom; first number signifies city | |
 | Maldonado Department— Punta del Este city | B 51-234 B 512-345 | black on white | "PUNTA DEL ESTE" at bottom; first number signifies city |
 | Maldonado Department— San Carlos city | B 212-345 | black on white | "SAN CARLOS" at bottom; first number signifies city |
| Maldonado Department— Solís | B 812-345 | black on white | "SOLIS" at bottom; first number signifies city | |
 | Río Negro Department — Fray Bentos city | JAB 123 | black on white | "FRAY BENTOS" at top, "RIO NEGRO" in orange band at bottom |
| Rivera Department | FAB-123 | dark blue on whute | "RIVERA - URUGUAY" at bottom | |
 | Salto Department | HA 123 | black on white; Salto logo at left | "SALTO" at bottom |
 | Soriano Department | K 12-3456 | blue on white | "SORIANO URUGUAY" at bottom |
Certain vehicles dedicated to different functions (that is, those that are not private in most cases) have special combinations of letters and colors on the plates that do not have those of ordinary vehicles. These combinations are located (with exceptions) in the last two letters of the series. Almost all special license plates have the legend "Uruguay" and some have another legend added, depending on the vehicle's condition.
The following initials of special license plates were used to register vehicles in a specific department of the 19 that make up the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, these denominations follow the letter that identifies the department, for example B is Maldonado or S is Montevideo, a license plate would be composed as BCC (Consular Corps) or SCD (Diplomatic Corps):
The following special license plates are exclusive to a department and are fixed series, therefore none of the three letters varies as vehicles with these license plates can only be registered in those departments:
These license plates do not use the icons that would normally correspond to an Intendancy, but an emblem always shown at the center belonging to one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of Uruguay, the series of these license plates are the same throughout the country.
Since 1992, this department had the format B 123·456. The letter B corresponds to the department; to its right is placed the departmental coat of arms and then a code of 3 to 6 numbers, which, together with the colors of the plate/plate, indicate the function of the wheel. In addition, the first number indicates in which locality a vehicle is registered, and this is reflected in the legend shown below in capital letters and without accents.
In October 2014 the design of the new license plate to be used by all Mercosur countries was officially presented. This consists of a plate of 15.75 in × 5.12 in (400.05 mm × 130.05 mm), with a white background, the characters and frame in black and a blue band at the top that shows the name of the country, its flag and the Mercosur logo. The typeface used is FE-Schrift.
Unlike most departments that began issuing Mercosur license plates in 2015, the department of Maldonado did only on 4 january 2019. Authorities of this department wanted to preserve the particularity of what existed until then, namely a specific code for each city. The first letter used is B as for old registration plates, the number follow being then replaced by a letter and the city is indicated by a blue band at bottom. [9]
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or license plate or licence plate, is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. All countries require registration plates for commercial road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles, for hire. Whether they are required for other vehicles, such as bicycles, boats, or tractors, may vary by jurisdiction. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle or vehicle owner within the issuing region's vehicle register. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, while in others it is unique within a state or province. Whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. There are also electronic license plates.
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The Palestinian National Authority requires their residents register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates. There are two different registration systems in use: one for West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip.
Since the end of the year 2000 Paraguay has required its residents to register their motor vehicles with the National Register of Vehicles and to display vehicle registration plates; this system has replaced the former one whereby plates were issued by municipal authorities, who also kept local registers.
The Australian state of New South Wales requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates. Current regular issue plates are to the standard Australian dimensions of 372 mm (14.6 in) in length by 134 mm (5.3 in) in height, and use standard Australian serial dies.
