License plates in Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

use a maximum of six characters. The standard series in use today ('la série courante') uses a pattern of two letters and four digits (e.g. XY 4567). Numbers with four or five digits and no letters are also issued (see below).

The numbers are issued at a national level and contain no regional indication. Plates have black characters on a yellow background, with the standard blue EU stripe on the left.

The current usage and format of plates was laid won by parliament in June 2003

The blue EU strip was added in 2010.

Standard plates

The two-letter/four-digit format follows a rather unusual scheme, detailed below. The apparently random order of issue makes it difficult for the uninitiated to determine a car's age from its number plate. Leading zeros are used on car number plates but small vehicles such as mopeds have miniature number plates showing only two letters and two digits.

Custom plates

Custom plates conform either to the standard format or consist of four or five digits. The scarcity of four digit numbers means that there is a waiting list for them. Obtaining a custom plate costs €50. A custom plate can only be issued for new cars or on a change of ownership. There is no market for trading numbers privately.

Old plates

Plates originally comprised digits only. (Four and five digit numbers can still be issued on request, but lower numbers withheld from private use once the car is taken off the road.)

More recently, combinations of one letter and four digits, then two letters and three digits, were introduced, but these are no longer issued and are therefore gradually disappearing. The rear number plate latterly featured a large EU flag without a country code.

A new registration number is allocated each time a car with a number in the old format changes ownership.

Plates used to have white numbers on a black background but these have all but disappeared with the exception of classic cars, which have special exemption.

Special plates

Single digits are reserved for the royal family, two digits numbers for the government car fleet. The Chamber of Deputies has its own series (P1-P99) and CD numbers are issued to those with relevant diplomatic status (format CD plus two sets of two digits separated by a hyphen)
Numbers starting with AA are reserved for official purposes (e.g. police cars) and ZZ is also reserved for special purposes.

Order of issue of numbers

The order followed by the standard series letters and digits is rather unusual - numbers below 4000 are reserved for custom plates: those from 4000 to 9999 are assigned in blocks of 1000 to a changing sequence of letters. The series set out by the legislation was BA4000-BA4999, CA5000-5999, DA6000-DA6999 etc. However, it would appear that the issuers of the numbers took a while to cotton on to this, as the CA series used 4000-4999; DA followed with 5000 to 5999.
The prescribed sequence of issue follows a pattern of ascending and descending alphabetical order of the two letters, as can be seen in the following list. When the first block of 1000 AZ numbers has been issued, we will presumably see the issue of BA5000.
Note that certain letters (I and O) and combinations are excluded. The list should be read from top to bottom, left to right:

BA JJ TS XZ NR DH FA RJ YS PZ DR GH QB ZK QS

CA GJ RS YZ PR EH EB QK ZS QZ ER FH PB YK RT

DA FJ QT ZY QR FG DB PK ZT RY FQ EG NB XK ST

EA EK PT YY RQ GG CB NK YT SY GQ DG MB WK TT

FB DK NT XY SQ HG BB MK XT TY HQ CG LB VL UT

GB CK MT WY TQ JG AB LK WT UY JQ BG KC UL VT

HB BK LT VX UQ KG AC KL VU VY KQ AG JC TL WU

JB AK KU UX VQ LF BC JL UU WX LP AF HC SL XU

KB AL JU TX WP MF CC HL TU XX MP BF GC RL YU

LC BL HU SX XP NF DC GL SU YX NP CF FC QM ZU

MC CL GU RX YP PF EC FL RU ZX PP DF ED PM ZV

NC DL FU QW ZP QF FD EM QV ZW QP EF DD NM YV

PC EL EV PW ZN RE GD DM PV YW RN FE BD MM XV

QC FM DV NW YN SE HD CM NV XW SN GE AD LM WV

RD GM CV MW XN TE JD BM MV WW TN HE AE KN VW

SD HM BV LW WN UE KD AM LV VV UN JE BE JN UW

TD JM AV KV VM VE LE AN KW UV VN KE CE HN TW

UD KM AW JV UM WD ME BN JW TV WM LD DE GN SW

VD LN BW HV TM XD NE CN HW SV XM MD EE FN RW

WE MN CW GV SM YD PE DN GW RV YM ND FF EP QX

XE NN DW FV RM ZD QE EN FW QU ZM QD GF DP PX

YE PN EW EU QL ZC RF FP EX PU ZL RC HF CP NX

ZE QN FX DU PL YC SF GP DX NU YL SC JF BP MX

ZF RP GX CU NL XC TF HP CX MU XL TC KF AP LX

YF SP HX BU ML VB UF JP BX LU WL UC LG AQ KY

XF TP JX AU LL UB VF KP AX KT VK VC MG BQ JY

WF UP KX AT JK TB WG LQ AY JT UK WB NG CQ HY

VG VP LY BT HK SB XG MQ BY HT TK XB PG DQ GY

UG WQ MY CT GK RB YG NQ CY GT SK YB QG EQ FY

TG XQ NY DT FK QA ZG PQ DY FT RK ZB RH FR EZ

SG YQ PY ET EJ PA ZH QQ EY ES QJ ZA SH GR DZ

RG ZQ QY FS DJ NA YH RR FZ DS PJ YA TH HR CZ

QH ZR RZ GS CJ MA XH SR GZ CS NJ XA UH JR BZ

PH YR SZ HS BJ LA WH TR HZ BS MJ WA VH KR AZ

NH XR TZ JS AJ KA VJ UR JZ AS LJ VA WJ LS

MH WR UZ KS AH JA UJ VR LZ AR KH UA XJ MS

LH VS VZ LR BH HA TJ WS MZ BR JH TA YJ NS

KJ US WZ MR CH GA SJ XS NZ CR HH RA ZJ PS

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