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. ^[1]

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

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. ^{[2] [3]}

Types

	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

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) ^[4]

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

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   Canada 3   Sri Lanka 4   Australia 5   Iran 6   Spain 7   Israel 8   Kuwait 9   United States 10   Brazil 11   Mexico 12   Ireland 13   Japan 14   New Zealand 15   Liechtenstein 16   Monaco 17   South Africa 18   Egypt 19   Syria 20   Algeria 21   Argentina 22   Austria 23   Bolivia 24   Chile 25   Colombia 26   South Korea 27   Costa Rica 28   Ivory Coast 29   Cuba 30   Ecuador 31   Finland 32   France 33   Ghana 34   Guatemala 35   Haiti 36   India 37   Indonesia 38   Iraq 39   Italy 40   Lebanon 41   Panama 42   Peru 43   Philippines 44   Portugal 45   Tunisia

46   Turkey 47   Uruguay 48   Venezuela 49   Vietnam 50   Democratic Republic of the Congo 51   Germany 52   Nigeria 53   Pakistan 54   Bulgaria 55   China 56   Hungary 57   Poland 58   Romania 59   Serbia 60   Czech Republic 61   Saudi Arabia 62   Belgium 63   Denmark 64   Greece 65   Libya 66   Morocco 67   Norway 68   Netherlands 69   Sweden 70   Thailand 71   Jordan 72   United Kingdom 73   Russia 74   Luxembourg 75   Ethiopia 76   Dominican Republic 77   Paraguay 78   El Salvador 79   Chinese Taipei 80   Jamaica 81   San Marino 82   Trinidad and Tobago 83   Yemen 84   Gabon 85   Malaysia 86   Liberia 87   Sudan 88   Mongolia 89   Malta 90   Belarus

91   Ukraine 92   Iceland 93   Republic of the Congo 94   Chad 95   Myanmar 96   Senegal 97   Nicaragua 98   Fiji 99   Honduras 100   Bangladesh 101   Cambodia 102   North Korea 103   Benin 104   Cyprus 105   Singapore 106   Central African Republic 107   Qatar 108   Oman 109   Cameroon 110   Madagascar 111   Kenya 112   Somalia 113   United Arab Emirates 114   Tanzania 115   Burundi 116 . . . . (Yemen until 1990) 117   Nepal 118   Bahrain 119   Afghanistan 120   Rwanda 121   Bhutan 122   Guinea 123   Zimbabwe 124   Hong Kong 125   Albania 126   Brunei 127   Dominica 128   São Tomé and Príncipe 129   Equatorial Guinea 130   Belize 131   Mauritius 132   Kyrgyzstan 133   Slovenia 134   Croatia 135   Zambia

136   Bosnia and Herzegovina 137   Slovakia 138   Lithuania 139   Latvia 140   Jordan 141   Angola 142   North Macedonia 143   Gambia 144   Armenia 145   Estonia 146   Uganda 147   Kazakhstan 148   Eritrea 149   Georgia 150   Mauritania 151   Moldova 152   Azerbaijan 153   Lesotho 154   Barbados 155   Cape Verde 156   Mozambique 157   Andorra 158   Botswana 159   Mali 160   Uzbekistan 161   Burkina Faso 162   Namibia 163   Timor-Leste 164   Saint Kitts and Nevis 165   Eswatini 166   Djibouti 167   Maldives 168   Montenegro 169   Grenada 170   Niger 171   Tajikistan 172 . . . . 173   Kosovo 174   Palestine 175   Togo 176   Comoros 177   Turkmenistan 178 . . . . 179   Sierra Leone 180 . . . . 181   South Sudan

Obsolete types

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

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

References

External links

• Media related to License plates of Switzerland at Wikimedia Commons