Dutch number plate configuration changed again after five years

The vehicle licensing agency RDW has launched the latest series of Dutch number plates, the 11th since the national system began in 1951.

The new plates will begin with three letters, followed by two numbers and a final letter, separated by hyphens. The first plate, GBB-01-B, is being registered on Wednesday afternoon.

Unlike in some countries, number plates in the Netherlands do not state the age of the car, but the order of letters and numbers gives a rough indication of how old it is.

A small number above the first hyphen shows the plate has been replaced after being lost, stolen or badly damaged.

The RDW has had to update the configuration more frequently as the number of vehicles on the road has increased. The first series ran for 16 years, but the most recent sequence of one letter, three numbers and two letters dates from 2019.

Banned combinations

Not all letters are permitted for all vehicles: C is reserved for diplomatic plates (CD), W is used for trailers and M for motorcycles. Vowels are not used at all, including Y, and the letter Q is deemed too similar to a zero.

Several combinations are excluded because they are associated with political parties or swear words, such as PVV, VVD, GVD and KVT.

Occasionally a proscribed combination slips through the net. In January 14 commercial vehicles were given plates with the combination BBB, which was discontinued after the farmers’ party of the same name was launched.

And in 2010 the RDW issued hundreds of licence plates with the combination NSB, standing for Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging the pre-war Nazi-affiliated party in the Netherlands. An alert garage owner notified the RDW, which blamed the error on its computer system.

• See also: What can you tell from a car numberplate in the Netherlands?