Legal Car Number Plates

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Legal Car Number Plates

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Ok so I'm taking off my private plate for retention and have now assigned my original registration plate.

As my private plates are in poor condition (Halfords, say no more), I will be getting some more made up. Now, this time, I'm dumping the Euro plate symbol and going for a British / Union type flag.

So this is a sample of the design that I really like (and this is also a sample registration). To my knowledge, there is nothing I can find telling me there has to be a blue background for the flag part. That was only applicable as far as I can tell for plates displaying the Euro flag, where it specifically states the blue background at the end of the guidance from DVLA below.
Plates.PNG
Does anyone have any reason / evidence why this design would not be legal? Specifically, I'm talking about the black background on the flag part. All the rest (font, spacing, border etc., is legal)

From DVLA's website:
Flags, symbols and identifiers
Flags and national identifying letters
You can display one of the following flags with identifying letters on the left-hand side of the number plate:

Union Flag
Cross of St George
Cross of St Andrew - also known as the Saltire
Red Dragon of Wales
The letters, or national identifiers, you can have are:

GREAT BRITAIN, Great Britain or GB
UNITED KINGDOM, United Kingdom or UK
CYMRU, Cymru, CYM or Cym
ENGLAND, England, ENG, Eng
SCOTLAND, Scotland, SCO or Sco
WALES or Wales
You’ll still need a GB sticker when travelling in Europe if you display one of these national flags and identifiers.

The flag must be above the identifier. You cannot have the flag or letters on the number plate margin, and neither can be more than 50 millimetres wide.

Euro symbol
If you display the Euro symbol and Great Britain (GB) national identifier on your number plate, then you will not need a separate GB sticker when travelling within the European Union.

The Euro symbol must:

be a minimum height of 98mm
have a width between 40 and 50mm
have a reflective blue background with 12 reflecting yellow stars at the top
show the member state (GB) in reflecting white or yellow
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Re: Legal Car Number Plates

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

GiveMeABreak wrote: 18 Nov 2020, 17:48 Does anyone have any reason / evidence why this design would not be legal? Specifically, I'm talking about the black background on the flag part. All the rest (font, spacing, border etc., is legal)
With all of the authority of "bloke down the pub" here's a thread from Moneysavingexpert with the assembled wisdom of the internet to call on

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/di ... r-for-flag

One of the contibutors made this observation
My interpretation is that if no colour is specified then it is the normal colour of the number plate. I.E. white on the front and yellow on the back. Other wise it is a modification that is not allowed.
Dont think you'll get a definitive answer.....


Regards Neil
Last edited by NewcastleFalcon on 18 Nov 2020, 19:53, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Legal Car Number Plates

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

GiveMeABreak wrote: 18 Nov 2020, 17:48 Does anyone have any reason / evidence why this design would not be legal? Specifically, I'm talking about the black background on the flag part. All the rest (font, spacing, border etc., is legal)
Little more...

Another thing which may suggest that the background colour of the strip may not be a carte blanche choice is the fact that after much deliberation the Govt approved these plates for EV's.

So
the green background strip for ev plates is specified and approved.
The Eu Flag and the Background are specified and approved

The background colour of the rear plates is specified and approved as yellow
The background colour of the front plates is specified and approved as white

Maybe this infers that any colours which are not specified are not permitted which would rule out a black background to the flag, and it would have to go against yellow for the back and white for the front.
Regards Neil
Last edited by NewcastleFalcon on 18 Nov 2020, 19:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Legal Car Number Plates

Post by bobins »

This from a major number plate supplier:
Number plate designs - newreg.co.uk, fair use
Number plate designs - newreg.co.uk, fair use
https://www.newreg.co.uk/services/dvla_ ... te_designs
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Re: Legal Car Number Plates

Post by myglaren »

No Yorkshire one? :(
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Re: Legal Car Number Plates

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Mmmm.... so nothing confirmed to the contrary written regulations wise and a lot of internet waffle as usual as I too have found.

I think I’ll need to fire one off to DVLA tomorrow, as Swansea is not in lockdown, so I’ll ask them to show me where it says I can’t use a black background for the flag strip. Although I still think I’m going to struggle getting an answer.

The website I used is https://www.platesdirect.com/?gclid=Cj0 ... GNEALw_wcB

I chose legal options and that’s where I picked the background, so they think it is ok.
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