Vehicle license plates of Switzerland, are composed of a two-letter code for the canton and a number with up to 6 digits. The rear plates also display two shields with the flags of Switzerland and the respective canton. Since 1972, the sizes of the plates have been 300 x 80 mm (front) and 300 x 160 mm (rear). In 1987, the optional long format rear plates of 500 x 110 mm, which had been abolished in 1972, were reintroduced.[1]
The vehicle license number plates are assigned to the car owner and not to the vehicle. If the owner changes the vehicle, the same vehicle license number plates are attached to the new vehicle. The previous vehicle receives the vehicle license number plates of the new owner.It is also possible to own two (or more) vehicles that share the vehicle license number plates: the plates are physically unmounted from one vehicle and mounted on another, provided the vehicles in question are owned by the same owner of the vehicle license number plate. These plates are known locally as "Wechselschilder".In some cantons, when vehicle license number plates are returned and retired, they are made available again after a certain time.
| Code | Flag | Canton | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AG | Aargau | ||
| AI | |||
| AR | |||
| BE | |||
| BL | |||
| BS | |||
| FR | |||
| GE | Geneva | ||
| GL | |||
| GR | |||
| JU | Jura | ||
| LU | |||
| NE | Neuchâtel | ||
| NW | |||
| OW | |||
| SG | St. Gallen | ||
| SH | Schaffhausen | ||
| SO | |||
| SZ | |||
| TG | Thurgau | ||
| TI | Ticino | ||
| UR | |||
| VD | Vaud | ||
| VS | Valais | ||
| ZG | Zug | ||
| ZH | Zürich |
Until 2020, vehicles in the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia were registered in Ticino, but are now to be registered in the Italian town of Como.[2] [3]
Swiss diplomatic plates display one of the prefixes "CD", "CC" or "AT", followed by a canton code, a serial number and a code for the country or organization. Low serial numbers are reserved for ambassadors or the head of an organization and their deputies.
| 01 – UN 02 – ILO 03 – WHO 04 – WMO 05 – ITU | 06 – WIPO 07 – CERN 08 – WTO 09 – EFTA 010 – IOM | 011 – IBE 012 – IPU 013 – ICDO 014 – APEF 015 – UPU | 016 – OTIF 017 – ADB 018 – IHC 019 – WCED 020 – BIS | 021 – ITCB 022 – SC 023 – ILC 024 – ACTED 025 – EC | 026 – ICRC 027 – . . . 028 – . . . 029 – . . . 030 – IFRC | 031 – ACWL 032 – OSCE 033 – WMO 034 – . . . 035 – GFATM 036 – . . . |
| 201 – EU 202 – OAS 203 – SICA 204 – SCI 205 – AGC 206 – OAU 207 – Commonwealth 208 – Arab League 209 – ATO 210 – IIDC | 211 – OIC 212 – G-15 213 – OIF 214 – World Bank 215 – ACP 216 – (WTO) 217 – PIF 3xx – International Disarmament Talks (xx = Country Code e.g. 309 = USA) |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 | 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 | 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 . . . . (Yemen until 1990) 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 | 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 . . . . 173 174 175 176 177 178 . . . . 179 180 . . . . 181 |
Civilian Federal vehicles had registration plates composed of the Swiss shield followed by the letter "A" (short for "Administration") and a number with up to five digits. The first digit indicated the department. In 2004 these plates were replaced with normal cantonal plates.
The Post, Telegraph and Telephone company (PTT) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) were part of the federal government until 1997/98. Their vehicles had registration plates composed of the Swiss coat followed by the letter "P" (short for "Post") and a number with up to five digits. When they became independent companies, the P-plates were replaced with cantonal plates in 2004.