The registration plates of cars in Norway are maintained by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. As in most countries, cars are identified only by number plates read visually. Each plate is a legal document that both identifies the vehicle and permits its use, and shall be returned to the registration authority when the vehicle is no longer in use.

The current alphanumerical system (two letters followed by four or five numbers) was introduced in 1971. The design of the plates remained the same until 2002, when the road authorities decided on a new font which standardized the width of each character. The new design was unsuccessful due to legibility issues, for example the letters "A" and "R" were often hard to distinguish. From 2006 the font was changed again to improve legibility, and space was provided for a blue nationality stripe with a Norwegian flag. From 2009, plates were made of plastic, and produced in a factory at Tønsberg. From 2012, plates are again produced in aluminium due to the plastic plates easily getting damaged in winter.

Licence plate design

The licence plates may have one of the following designs:

A – White reflective plate, black print For cars, trucks, buses, etc. taxed and fit to drive on public roads. Most cars in Norway have these plates. Motorcycles, mopeds, moped cars, trailers, caravans etc have plates with two letters and four digits. DP 70231

B – Black plate, yellow print These are for all vehicles that are approved and deemed safe but never drive on public roads. This includes logging and mining equipment, snowmobiles, various transports at airports and ports, etc. Such vehicles are tax exempt. Vehicles registered on Svalbard also use these plates, as according to the Svalbard Treaty, national taxes may not be levied on Svalbard. DJ 45765

C – Black plate, white print Rally and other competition cars. The vehicle may be driven legally on the road to and from training and events if a NMF licence and a statement from the local club on training times is presented. Insurance and road tax has to be paid, but there is no import tax on new vehicles. AA 12345

D – Orange plates, black print Military cars, trucks, buses, tanks etc.

Orange plates with red print are military cars, such as tanks etc., see class I below 12345

E – Green reflective plate, black print For cars, vans, small trucks, etc. taxed and fit to drive on public roads, equipped with only one row of seats (driver included) and with sufficient internal volume to fit a crate 140 cm long by 90 cm wide by 105 cm high. This category is primarily intended for tradesmen, couriers and such, but there is no restriction on who can own or operate such a vehicle. Vehicles with green plates are taxed more lightly than vehicles with white plates.  DA 12345 

F – Blue plate, yellow print These are diplomatic corps plates; they are used on official cars of foreign embassies and consular services. These plates always use prefix CD. The first two digits shows which diplomatic mission the vehicle belongs to. They are tax exempt. CD 12345 CD 1234

G – Red plate, white print Dealer plates. These plates are assigned to car dealerships and used for ferrying or test driving. They can be moved freely from car to car. DA 12 Since mid 2015 there is a new format starting from AAA10. This format is centrally issued. ABC 12 Dealer plates for trailers has a T as suffix. DA 12T

ABC 12T

H – Red plate, black print Stickers used for ferrying or testing unregistered but roadworthy vehicles, prototypes etc. Issued on day-to-day basis at a cost of NOK 310 per day. The date of issue is printed to the right of the registration number. DA123

I – Orange plate, red print Military test plates, with two or three letters (FMU or T-U) followed by three number with leading zero. FMU is for "Forsvarsmuséet" (the Armed Forces Museum) or T-U for "Test og utvikling" (testing and development).

T-U 001 FMU 001

J – White plates, black print, red margins Export and tourist plates. No letters. Left and right is a red border with the month/year of expiry written vertically. 00 12345 00

Personalised number plates Starting in 2017, it is possible to apply for personalised number plates bearing any combination of two to seven letters and digits, with certain exceptions, mainly for offensive words or phrases and registered trademarks. Subject to those conditions, and upon payment of a NOK 9 000 fee, the applicant is granted the exclusive right to use the requested registration number on any class A or E vehicle they own for ten years.  PERSONA   PS 

Validation sticker

Between 1993 and 2012, self-adhesive validation stickers in primary colours were issued annually to every car that had valid road tax and insurance and had passed its latest biennial safety and emissions test. The stickers included the registration number in the form of a bar code, and changed colour every year on a three-year cycle: red, blue and yellow.

The use of validation stickers was discontinued from May 2012. The police will now rely on automated systems which photograph the number plate, identify the registration number using optical character recognition, and check the car's status in a database.

Nationality stripe

Norwegian plates manufactured after 1 November 2006 have a nationality stripe on the left end of the plates. This stripe is blue with Norway's national flag and international vehicle registration code "N", in a similar format to that used by many central European countries before they became EU members. The resemblance to EU registration plates infuriated some adherents of the anti-EU movement, leading the Public Roads Administration to issue white or black adhesive labels with which they could cover the blue stripe.

Manufacture of licence plates The manufacture of licence plates is strictly controlled by the authorities. Plates are provided when a registration application is accepted. If plates are stolen, new ones will not be issued until a police enquiry is complete. Plates of all types, except some F-type plates, were previously produced in aluminium. Between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011, plates were made of plastic, which made them slightly thicker than the older aluminium ones (requiring thicker plate holders). These plates were much less expensive. They had a transparent plastic layer on top of the layer with the writing, which was especially prone to breaking on impact during cold weather (such as being hit by another car's trailer hitch). This, in addition to the higher recycling costs of plastic compared to aluminium led to the cessation of plastic plates in favour of aluminium ones as of 1 January 2012, although with the same price as the plastic plates.

Prefixes and sequence numbers

All Norwegian licence plates for civilian vehicles have a prefix of two letters, followed by a sequence of numbers. Military licence plates have numbers only. Most vehicles have five-digit registration numbers between 10000 and 99999. Motorcycles, farming equipment and trailers have four-digit registration numbers between 1000 and 9999 is used. Temporary plates have three-digit registration numbers between 100 and 999. Dealer plates have two-digit registration numbers between 10 and 99.

Special prefixes are: CD: Corps Diplomatique EL, EK, EV, EB, EC, ED, EE, EF, EH, EJ, EN, EP, ER, EA and EU: Electrically powered vehicles (not hybrids) FE: Former military vehicles (of vintage 2005 or later) sold or transferred to civilian use GA: autogas/LPG (liquified petroleum gas) or other gas powered vehicles HY: Hydrogen powered vehiclesElectromobility in Norway – experiences and opportunities with Electric vehicles (See section 3.2.1) Ordinary vehicle plates have a prefix based on the geographic location for the first registration, and will be unchanged later.

AreaCountyRegistration seriesHaldenØstfoldAA AB ACHafslundØstfoldAD AR AS AT AU AV AW DW FL ESMossØstfoldAX AY AZ BAMysenØstfoldAJ AK AL AN AP FN BWSarpsborgØstfoldAE AF AH Asker and BærumAkershusBL BN BP BR BS BT BU BV BX BY BZ CA CBDrøbakAkershusBC BD BE BF BH BJ BKJessheimAkershusCV CX CY CZ CULillestrømAkershusCC CE CF CH CJ CK CL CN CP CR CS CT CUDrammenBuskerudKE KF KH KJ KK KL KN KP KR KSGolBuskerudKB KC KDHønefossBuskerudJU JV JX JY JZ KAKongsbergBuskerudKT KU KV KX KY OsloOsloDA DB DC DD DE DF DH DJ DK DL DN DP DR DS DT DU DV DX DY DZ (4-digits only: EA EU EF EH EJ EN EP ER)ElverumInnlandetHB HC HD HE HA FZFagernesInnlandetJR JS JTGjøvikInnlandetJC JD JE JF JH JJ JK JL JN JPHamarInnlandetFS FT FU FV FX FY FZ FW ETKongsvingerInnlandetHJ HK HL HN HP HRLillehammerInnlandetHS HT HU HV HX FBOttaInnlandetHZ JA JBTynsetInnlandetHF HHHortenVestfoldKZ LA LB LC LDLarvikVestfoldLS LT LU LV LX LZ NA NB NCSandefjordVestfoldLY NATønsbergVestfoldLH LJ LK LL LN LP LR LDNotoddenTelemarkNV NX NY NZRjukanTelemarkPA PBSkienTelemarkND NE NF NH NJ NK NL NN NP NR NT NUArendalAgderPC PD PE PF PH PJ PKFlekkefjordAgderRA RBKristiansandAgderPN PP PR PS PT PU PV PWMandalAgderPX PY PZ RC RDSetesdalAgderPL LFEgersundRogalandRZ SA SBHaugesundRogalandSC SD SE SF SH SJ SK SLStavangerRogalandRE RF RH RJ RK RL RN RP RR RS RT RU RV RX RY RWBergenVestlandSN SP SR SS ST SU SV SX SY SZ TA TB TC TD TE HWFørdeVestlandTV TX TY TZNordfjordeidVestlandUA UBOddaVestlandTS TT TUSogndalsfjøraVestlandUC UDStordVestlandTL TN TP TRVossVestlandTF TH TJ TK KristiansundMøre og RomsdalUX UY UZ VAMoldeMøre og RomsdalUR US UT UU UV SunndalsøraMøre og RomsdalVB VC ØrstaMøre og RomsdalUN UP BBÅlesundMøre og RomsdalUE UF UH UJ UK ULBrekstadTrøndelagXA XB XCLevangerTrøndelagXK XL VWNamsosTrøndelagXR XS XT XUOrkdalenTrøndelagVX VY VZSteinkjerTrøndelagXD XE XF XH XJ XWStjørdalTrøndelagXN XP YWStørenTrøndelagVS VTTrondheimTrøndelagFP VD VE VF VH VJ VK VL VN VP VR VS VU VV NWBodøNordlandYE YF YH YJ FD EZFauskeNordlandYK YLMo i RanaNordlandYA YB YC YDMosjøenNordlandXV XX XY XZ FANarvikNordlandYN YP YR YSSortlandNordlandYU YV YXSvolværNordlandYT YYFinnsnesTromsZD ZF ZJ EXHarstadTromsYZ ZA ZB TW StorslettTromsFK SW TromsøTromsZC ZE ZH ZK ZL FCAltaFinnmarkZT ZU ZV ZY ZW UW HammerfestFinnmarkZX FF EXKirkenesFinnmarkZS EYLakselvFinnmarkZZ CWVadsøFinnmarkFR ZP ZR LELongyearbyenSvalbardZN FH

The letters G, I, O and Q are not used due to their similarity with other letters or numbers; an exception is that CNG vehicles such as gas buses use "GA". M and W were originally not used as they are much wider than other letters, but some codes including W are now assigned. The Norwegian letters Æ, Ø, and Å are not used either. Additionally, the combinations "NS" and "SS" have been omitted because of their connotations to World War II. (Although SS is in use on four-digit plates used for motorcycles, tractors and trailers etc.)

When a vehicle is scrapped or exported, the registration number/chassis is tagged as such, and the vehicle is no longer allowed to travel by road. Neither can the registration number be reused. Example; BL50000 will always be the real-life version of the legendary "" from the Flåklypa Grand Prix movie.

Single-letter plates are reused when vacant, but only available for vintage vehicles from 1971 or earlier.

If a set of licence plates is stolen, the vehicle will be re-registered on different plates.

Diplomatic Corps codes The diplomatic fleet is identified by a code built up by CD <nn><abc> where <nn> is the country identifier as described below and <abc> is a sequence number.

CodeCountry or Organization 10111214151617202122232628293033343740414243444548525354576063646568717273747576777880838689

Other issues Norway does not have any particular numbering scheme or plate kind to indicate vehicle usage such as police, taxi, ambulance or others, except for type F plates used by foreign diplomats.