Is there a purpose for these stickers?

[Joey D]

While I was in England I noticed quite a few cars had country oval stickers on them like this...

and I was wondering what the significance, if any, of them were. I would like to get one for the Mini Cooper but I would like to know what they are used for so I don't look like a complete fool driving around with one. I assume since so many vehicles had them they must mean something.

 

[Boundary Layer]

They're called Euro stickers. I think they're simply for identifying the car's originating country (I mean, the country where the owner registered it), right?

 

[TopHat]

My dad has an "NPT" one for Northport, a "GD" for Grateful Dead, and ATY one for Amityville....

 

[sn00pie]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/BE_license_plate.jpg/img]
[img]http://www.florkoninckx.be/userFiles/img/NummerplaatNL.jpg

In Europe the country where a car is licensed to is shown on the car. Either by seperate sticker, or as part of the license plate.

 

[Joey D]

Cool thanks!

 

[Diego440]

Yeah, but as BL said, they used to have those stickers... and by "used to" I mean back in the 60s and 70s. Since then it's become a fashion accesory.

We used to own a Mercedes that had the CH... can you guess what country that was from?

 

[Serge.D]

Yeah, but as BL said, they used to have those stickers... and by "used to" I mean back in the 60s and 70s. Since then it's become a fashion accesory.

We used to own a Mercedes that had the CH... can you guess what country that was from?

Switzerland.

 

[Freddie]

If I'm not wrong, stickers such as those are even mandatory if you wish to take your car outside the country its registered in. This is for quick identification purposes, and to distinguish registration plates that otherwise be very similar but from different countries.

A good example would be norwegian and danish registration plates. While the fonts and overall look of the plates are different (i.e. new norwegian plates have the flag and national symbol on the plates now, making the sticker redundant), the lettering and numbering of the plates are very similar: two letters followed by five numbers. Very practical if there's two black mondeos driving about, both with "XZ 12543" on their plates.

 

[daan]

You need chrome ones on a mini.

Its the law.

 

[the Interceptor]

If I'm not wrong, stickers such as those are even mandatory if you wish to take your car outside the country its registered in.

You're right, they are mandatory unless you have a license plate with that EU star circle, as that one always includes the country of origin, too.

 

[Diego440]

Switzerland.

Dind ding ding! You get a cookie!



History of the oval stickers:

Well, back in 1969 the United Nations got together to create an easier way to identify the origins of different vehicles traveling in Europe and elsewhere, since so many license plates used overseas looked the same no matter what country you were from. With that in mind they came up with the idea of adding a sticker to your vehicle with a country code so officials could identify your point of origin. The original stickers were big...over 9 inches wide and nearly 6 inches tall! Almost the same size as a door on a Yugo! Here's the official text from the Conventions on Road Traffic from 1969 that describes the design of the stickers. Probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about oval, euro stickers!

ANNEX 4. DISTINGUISHING SIGN OF VEHICLES IN INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC
1. The distinguishing sign shall be composed of one to three letters in capital Latin characters. The letters shall have a minimum height of 80 mm. (3.1 in.) and their strokes a width of 10 mm. (0.4 in.). The letters shall be painted in black on a white ground of elliptical form with the major axis horizontal.
2. If the distinguishing sign is composed of three letters, the dimensions of the ellipse shall be at least 240 mm. (9.4 in.) in width and 145 mm. (5.7 in.) in height. The dimensions may be reduced to 175 mm. (6.9 in.) in width and 115 mm. (4.5 in.) in height if the sign carries less than three letters.
As regards the distinguishing signs for motorcycles, the dimensions of the ellipse, whether the sign is composed of one, two or three letters, may be reduced to 175 mm. (6.9 in.) in width and 115 mm. (4.5 in.) in height.
3. The distinctive letters for the different States and territories are as follows:


Australia AUS

Austria A

Belgium B

Belgian Congo CB

Bulgaria BG

Chile RCH

Czechoslovakia CS

Denmark DK

France F

Algeria, Tunis, Morocco, French India F

Saar SA

India IND

Iran IR

Israel IL

Italy I

Lebanon RL

Luxembourg L

Netherlands NL

Norway N

Philippines PI

Poland PL

Sweden S

Switzerland CH

Turkey TR

Union of South Africa ZA

United Kingdom GB

Alderney GBA

Guernsey GBG

Jersey GBJ

Aden ADN

Bahamas BS

Basutoland BL

Bechuanaland BP

British Honduras BH

Cyprus CY

Gambia WAG

Gibraltar GBZ

Gold Coast WAC

Hong Kong HK

Jamaica JA

Johore JO

Kedah KD

Kelantan KL

Kenya EAK

Labuan SS

Malacca SS

Malaya (Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor) FM

Malta GBY

Mauritius MS

Nigeria WAN

Northern Rhodesia NR

Nyasaland NP

Penang SS

Perlis PS

Province Wellesley SS

Seychelles SY

Sierra Leone WAL

Somaliland SP

Southern Rhodesia SR

Swaziland SD

Tanganyika EAT

Trengganu TU

Trinidad TD

Uganda EAU

Grenada WG

St Lucia WL

St Vincent WV

Zanzibar EAZ

United States of America USA

Yugoslavia YU



Any State which has not already done so shall on signature or ratification of, or accession to, this Convention, notify the Secretary-General of the distinctive letters selected by that State.

4. When the distinguishing sign is carried on a special plate this plate shall be fixed in a vertical or nearly vertical position and in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle itself. When the sign is fixed to or painted on the vehicle itself, this shall be done on a vertical or nearly vertical surface at the back of the vehicle.




I'm surprised Sierra Leone has one but Spain doesn't

 

[daan]

Spain is E

 

[Diego440]

Spain is E

these sticker people can't even spell Spain right...

 

[Joey D]

Thanks for the info, I think I'm just going to get one because it will actually mean something (well sort of). Everyone around here has DET (Detroit), OBX (Outter Banks), or something like that...there is even one loser driving around with a GTP one a lowered black Blazer Xtreme.

And wouldn't it be Espanola?

 

[the Interceptor]

And wouldn't it be Espanola?

España

 

[Diego440]

España

👍

 

[Joey D]

Well that shows how much I know

 

[ExigeEvan]

I'm surprised Sierra Leone has one but Spain doesn't

Was Spain a member of the UN under Franco?

 

[ceiling_fan]

$3.99 at the GTP store.


(Do I get banned for advertising, if it's for the store?...)

 

[Joey D]

Boom!

 

[ceiling_fan]

Haha, cool. I'm surprised you didn't mention this in the first post.

 

[Joey D]

Well I waited till post 14

Thanks for the info, I think I'm just going to get one because it will actually mean something (well sort of). Everyone around here has DET (Detroit), OBX (Outter Banks), or something like that...there is even one loser driving around with a GTP one a lowered black Blazer Xtreme.

 

[ceiling_fan]

Yeah, must be some loser though.


I'd buy one if I had a car...

 

[Duke]

Don't get me started on OBX stickers. Wups, too late.

 

[Wolfe]

Does that mean you hate me, Duke?


Picked up both stickers during my 2005 stay in Germany (the one to the right of the license plate is a bit hard to see but should still be recognizable).

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I had a GB sticker on the Espace when we were in France, as per the legal requirement. But I put it on the rear window glass, so that I could lift it off easily with a Stanley knife as soon as I got home. In fact, I think I took it off while we were on the car deck waiting to be released from the ferry at Hull on our way back.

I quite liked it when it was on the car when we were in France, but it was there for a reason. I was for some odd reason proud of the car that had blasted us through Scotland, the North of England, Belgium and Northern France, even though I knew it was well within the car's capability. For some reason the sticker associated itself with the 800 mile thrash to our holiday. But as soon as we were back in Britain, the sticker had to go.