The current vehicle registration plate

Vehicle registration plate

A vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...

 system of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

was introduced in 2002.

Identification

Cuban licence plates contain three letters and three numbers. The colour of plates is also an important identification element. Ordinary (non-special) licence plates have also a number on the lower central part of the plate ranging from 0 to 9, denoting the type of the vehicle.

First letter

The first letter denotes the province where the licence plate was issued.

Province	First letter of licence plate
Pinar del Río Pinar del Río Province Pinar del Río is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba.-Geography:The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost province and contains one of Cuba's three main mountain ranges, the Cordillera de Guaniguanico, divided into the easterly Sierra del Rosario and...	P
La Habana La Habana Province Havana Province was one of the provinces of Cuba, prior to being divided into two new provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque on January 1, 2011. It had 711,066 people in the 2002 census. The largest city was Artemisa .-Geography:...	B
Ciudad de La Habana Havana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...	H
Matanzas Matanzas Province Matanzas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas...	M
Cienfuegos Cienfuegos Province Cienfuegos is one of the provinces of Cuba. The capital city of the province is also called Cienfuegos and was founded by French settlers in 1819....	F
Villa Clara Villa Clara Province Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering with the Atlantic at north, Matanzas Province by west, Sancti Spiritus by east, and Cienfuegos on the South. Villa Clara shares with Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus on the south the Escambray...	V
Sancti Spiritus Sancti Spíritus Province Sancti Spíritus is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is the identically named Sancti Spíritus. Another major city is Trinidad.The southern coast of the province is flat, but the western portion of Sancti Spíritus province is mountainous. The southeast has numerous mangroves and swamps...	S
Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila Province Ciego de Ávila is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central , and the second city is Morón, further north....	A
Camagüey Camagüey Province Camagüey is the largest of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Camagüey. Other towns include Florida and Nuevitas.-Geography:Camagüey is mostly low lying, with no major hills or mountain ranges passing through the province...	C
Las Tunas Las Tunas Province Las Tunas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns include Puerto Padre and Amancio, as well as the capital, Victoria de Las Tunas ....	T
Granma Granma Province Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo and Pilón.-History:...	G
Holguín Holguín Province Holguín is one of the provinces of Cuba, the third most populous after Ciudad de la Habana and Santiago de Cuba. It lies in the northeast of the country. Its major cities include Holguín , Banes, Antilla, Mayarí, and Moa....	O
Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba Province Santiago de Cuba Province is the second most populated province in the island of Cuba. The largest city Santiago de Cuba is the main administrative center...	U
Guantánamo Guantánamo Province Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo. Other towns include Baracoa. The province surrounds the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay.-History:...	N
Isla de la Juventud	I

Second letter and colour

The second letter identify the type of vehicle owner.

Second letter of license plate	Colour of the plate	Meaning
A	white	government ministers, provincial officials, and other important state persons
	light brown	authorised government and official persons of lower rank
D / E / F / G / H	yellow	private vehicles
K	yellow	vehicles and motorcycles owned by foreign natural persons
	light brown	vehicles and motorcycles owned by foreign and mixed companies, foreign journalists, religious institutions
R	yellow	private motorcycles and "cocotaxis"
S / T / U / V / W	blue	state owned vehicles
Y / Z		state owned motorcycles
	Black	Foreign Diplomat

Vehicle type number

The vehicle type number can be found on the lower central part of the plate, it is a one digit number ranging from 0 to 9, it denotes the type of the vehicle. This is not used on special licence plates.

Special licence plates

Cars of the Cuban Army

Military of Cuba

The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces consist of ground forces, naval forces, air and air defence forces, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial Troops Militia , Revolutionary Armed Forces , and Youth Labor Army .The armed forces has long been the...

 and the Cuban Ministry of Interior use plates with one letter (A, B, C or F) followed by 5 digits. On the cars of the Cuban Army there is a "FAR" (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias) inscription in the central lower part of the licence plate. In the case of the Ministry of Interior, there is a "MININT" (Ministerio del Interior) inscription. Licence plates of the Army are always of light green colour, while plates of the Ministry of Interior are dark green.

Diplomatic cars use 6 digits without preceding letters. There is a "D", "C" or "E" letter in the lower left part of the licence plate (D = diplomatic, C - consular, E - other status). They have a black colour licence plate.

Cars for hire have a licence plate beginning with "T" letter (meaning turista), followed by two letters and four digits. They are of dark red colour.

Provisional licence plates have the normal code of the province followed by 4 digits and a "P" letter, the colour of the plate is light red.

Cars of the US military in the Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

use licence plates with one letter and four numbers, and texts "U. S. N. B." and "Gtmo Bay Cuba".