Vehicle registration plates of Switzerland

Rear plate from Canton of St. Gallen, long format

Rear plate, Canton of Ticino, high format

Front plate, Thurgau

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.

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.

Canton codes

Valais

Ticino

Grisons

Geneva

Vaud

Neuchâtel

Jura

Bern

Thurgau

Zurich

Aargau

Lucerne

Solothurn

Basel-Landschaft

Schaffhausen

Uri

Schwyz

Glarus

St. Gallen

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Obwalden

Nidwalden

Zug

Fribourg

Basel-Stadt

Frankreich

Italien

Liechten-
stein

Österreich

Deutschland

Code	Flag	Canton
AG		Aargau
AI		Appenzell Innerrhoden
AR		Appenzell Ausserrhoden
BE		Bern
BL		Basel-Landschaft
BS		Basel-Stadt
FR		Fribourg
GE		Geneva
GL		Glarus
GR		Grisons
JU		Jura
LU		Lucerne
NE		Neuchâtel
NW		Nidwalden
OW		Obwalden
SG		St. Gallen
SH		Schaffhausen
SO		Solothurn
SZ		Schwyz
TG		Thurgau
TI		Ticino
UR		Uri
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.

Types

Personalized plate "999999" from Canton of Graubünden

Old style rear plate, from Canton of Zürich

Old style tractor plate from Canton of St. Gallen

Control mark for temporary registrations

	Standard type for motor vehicles, motorcycles and trailers
	Utility vehicles e.g. for construction, snow removal, fire brigade etc.
	Exceptional vehicles that do not comply with mass and weight regulations
	Agricultural vehicles
	Military vehicles
	For vehicle dealers and workshops, additional letter "U"
	Temporary registration, with control mark showing the expiry date
	Temporary, duty unpaid, with control mark and letter "Z"
	Motorcycles and electric vehicles
	Light motor vehicles and small motorcycles limited to 45 km/h
	Mopeds and E-Bikes
	Segway vehicles
	Bicycle carriers, rear plate only

Diplomatic plates

1 = Ambassador, 15 = Liechtenstein

Consular plate, 38 = Iraq

UN Mission, 03 = WHO

Int. Organization, 201 = EU

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.

CD

• Official cars of the diplomatic missions.
• Motor vehicles of the members of the diplomatic staff of these missions .

CC

• Vehicles of consular posts headed by a professional official.
• Motor vehicles of consular officials.

CD

• Vehicles of permanent missions or other representations to intergovernmental organizations and motor vehicles for the members of the diplomatic staff of these missions.
• Vehicles of institutional beneficiaries such as intergovernmental organizations, international institutions, secretariats or other bodies set up under an international treaty, independent commissions, international courts, arbitral tribunals and other international bodies, who enjoy privileges, immunities and facilities, as well as the motor vehicles of the highest-ranking officials of these institutional beneficiaries, who enjoy diplomatic status in Switzerland.

AT

• Vehicles belonging to members of the administrative and technical staff of diplomatic missions .

Codes

Diplomatic Codes (UN Missions)

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 – . . .

Diplomatic Codes (Int. Organizations)

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 ) 5xx – World Trade Organization (WTO) ( xx = Country Code e.g. 509 = USA )

Diplomatic Codes (Countries)

1 Vatican City 2 Kanada 3 Sri Lanka 4 Australien 5 Iran 6 Spanien 7 Israel 8 Kuwait 9 Vereinigte Staaten 10 Brasilien 11 Mexiko 12 Irland 13 Japan 14 Neuseeland 15 Liechtenstein 16 Monaco 17 Südafrika 18 Ägypten 19 Syria 20 Algerien 21 Argentinien 22 Österreich 23 Bolivien 24 Chile 25 Kolumbien 26 Südkorea 27 Costa Rica 28 Ivory Coast 29 Cuba 30 Ecuador 31 Finnland 32 Frankreich 33 Ghana 34 Guatemala 35 Haiti 36 Indien 37 Indonesien 38 Iraq 39 Italien 40 Libanon 41 Panama 42 Peru 43 Philippinen 44 Portugal 45 Tunesien

46 Türkei 47 Uruguay 48 Venezuela 49 Vietnam 50 Democratic Republic of the Congo 51 Deutschland 52 Nigeria 53 Pakistan 54 Bulgarien 55 China 56 Ungarn 57 Polen 58 Rumänien 59 Serbien 60 Tschechische Republik 61 Saudi-Arabien 62 Belgien 63 Dänemark 64 Griechenland 65 Libyen 66 Marokko 67 Norwegen 68 Niederlande 69 Schweden 70 Thailand 71 Jordanien 72 Vereinigtes Königreich 73 Russland 74 Luxemburg 75 Äthiopien 76 Dominikanische Republik 77 Paraguay 78 El Salvador 79 Chinese Taipei 80 Jamaika 81 San Marino 82 Trinidad und Tobago 83 Jemen 84 Gabun 85 Malaysia 86 Liberia 87 Sudan 88 Mongolei 89 Malta 90 Weißrussland

91 Ukraine 92 Island 93 Republic of the Congo 94 Tschad 95 Myanmar 96 Senegal 97 Nicaragua 98 Fidschi 99 Honduras 100 Bangladesch 101 Kambodscha 102 North Korea 103 Benin 104 Zypern 105 Singapur 106 Zentralafrikanische Republik 107 Katar 108 Oman 109 Kamerun 110 Madagaskar 111 Kenia 112 Somalia 113 Vereinigte Arabische Emirate 114 Tansania 115 Burundi 116 . . . . (Yemen until 1990) 117 Nepal 118 Bahrain 119 Afghanistan 120 Ruanda 121 Bhutan 122 Guinea 123 Simbabwe 124 Hongkong 125 Albanien 126 Brunei 127 Dominica 128 São Tomé and Príncipe 129 Äquatorial-Guinea 130 Belize 131 Mauritius 132 Kirgisistan 133 Slowenien 134 Kroatien 135 Sambia

136 Bosnien und Herzegowina 137 Slowakei 138 Litauen 139 Lettland 140 Jordanien 141 Angola 142 North Macedonia 143 Gambia 144 Armenien 145 Estland 146 Uganda 147 Kasachstan 148 Eritrea 149 Georgien 150 Mauretanien 151 Moldawien 152 Aserbaidschan 153 Lesotho 154 Barbados 155 Kap Verde 156 Mosambik 157 Andorra 158 Botswana 159 Mali 160 Usbekistan 161 Burkina Faso 162 Namibia 163 Timor-Leste 164 St. Kitts und Nevis 165 Eswatini 166 Dschibuti 167 Malediven 168 Montenegro 169 Grenada 170 Niger 171 Tadschikistan 172 . . . . 173 Kosovo 174 Palestine 175 Togo 176 Komoren 177 Turkmenistan 178 . . . . 179 Sierra Leone 180 . . . . 181 South Sudan

Obsolete types

Administration, rear plate

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.

• A 1xxxx – Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
• A 2xxxx – Federal Department of Home Affairs
• A 3xxxx – Federal Department of Justice and Police
• A 4xxxx – Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport
• A 5xxxx – Federal Department of Finance
• A 6xxxx – Federal Department of Economy
• A 7xxxx – Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication

PTT / SBB, rear plate

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.

• P 1xxxx to P 7xxxx were attributed to PTT
• P 8xxxx to P 9xxxx were attributed to SBB

External links

• Media related to License plates of Switzerland at Wikimedia Commons