2020 standard template for cars and trucks
2020 standard template for motorbikes

Vehicle registration plates of Vietnam generally take the form DDL-DDDDD for vehicles. Standard license plates have black characters on white background. Front plates measure 47 × 11 cm, rear ones are 27 × 20. In 2020 and 2021, both plates measure 6 x 12. The current scheme for civilian vehicles omits the letters I, J, O, Q and W, with the letter R reserved for trailers, and includes the Vietnamese D.

Vietnamese plate example (1975–1995)

History

French protectorate

In French Indochina, license plates were white-on-black on XXX1111 type, XXX is location code. 1111 can be anything (serial numbers).

1978–1984

Vietnamese plates in 1978–1984 were white-on-black and similar to previous one, but had 4 digits then 3 letters. 3 letters are city name, but based on Vietnamese language.

1984–2003

From 1984 to 2003 (current version) is black-on-white, then later green-on-white, with city name. Plates were A 1111 format, then 1A 1111 format, then AA 1111 format, then was going to switch to AAA 111 format, but the plan was cancelled. The leading two symbols are two digits, representing the province/municipality. The exact date of format changing is unknown. In 2012 a blue strip with a "VN" will be added on the left-hand side of the plates, as required by the new ASEAN licensing agreement.

The leading two numerals refer to the various provinces and major municipalities of Vietnam, unless they are letters (AA, AB, AC, and so on) which signify that the car belongs to the Ministry of Defence - in which case the plate will be red. Some plates also carry a red two-letter code following the provincial numerals, with "NG" (for ngoại giao) used for a diplomatic or NGO plate and "LD" for a vehicle belonging to a company which is 100% foreign-owned. If a colored letter (A, B, or C) follows the province code, the vehicle belongs to the local government).

Colors

Vietnamese plate for Central Government's
  • President's cars, Central Government's cars, law enforcement cars - White on blue[1]
  • Private vehicles - Black on white[2]
  • Commercial vehicle, construction vehicles - Black on yellow[2][3]
  • Military's cars - White on red[2]
  • Diplomat's cars - Black on white with red NG code[4]
  • Foreigner-owned cars - Black on white with black NN code[4]

Formats

Regular plates

Vietnamese private vehicle plate.

The format for regular plates began in 1984, with a modification made in 2010 to increase registration capacity. The system itself resembles an inverted FNI system of France. The registration format of the 2010 system is 12A-345.67, where 12 is the regional code, A is the serial letter, and 345.67 is the registration number. Regular plates have black lettering on white background.

Double-letter serials for special uses also exist for regular plates:

Serial Used for
DA Foreign investment companies
HC Vehicles allowed to work in limited time of day only
KT Special military vehicles
LA Construction machinery (Note: This comes with a yellow background and follows 12AB-3456 format.)
LD Joint ventures with foreign entities, and vehicles rented by foreigners
MA Three-wheeled light transport vehicles
Two-wheeled vehicles with electric power source
MK Tractors
  • SA
  • XA
Large-size equipment, e.g. combine harvesters, etc. (Note: This also comes with a yellow background.)
Vietnam-made vehicles

Other formats

Commercial format

After 1 August 2020, all commercial vehicles in Vietnam must change to a yellow color vehicle plate.[3]

Lạng Sơn Province
12SA-3456

State format

Vehicles of state organizations receive plates with white lettering on blue backgrounds. The format is either 12AB-345.67 or 12A-3456, where 12 is the regional code, AB/A is the serial, 345.67/3456 is the number.

12AB-345.67

Government format

The government format follows the regular format, but the regional code is changed to 80.

80A-1234

Motorcycles

Motorcycles over 50cc receive two-line plates of the 12-A3/456.78 format, which replaced the previous 12-A3/4567 format, with black lettering on white backgrounds.

12-А3
456.78
12-А3
4567

Motorcycles below 50cc, on the other hand, receive a slightly different 12-AB/345.67 format, also replacing the previous 12-AB/3456 format.

12-AA
345.67
Lai Châu Province
12-AA
4567

Two-wheel vehicles with electric power source use the 12-MĐ/345.67 format.

12-MĐ
345.67

Diplomatic plates

A Vietnam diplomatic plate for international organizations. The numbers 27 and 547 signifying an international organization based in Điện Biên Province.

Diplomatic plates have their status codes in red, and the numbers in black on a white background.

  • Diplomatic personnel based in Hanoi receive the 80-123-NG-45 format, where the red NG stood for ngoại giao, or "diplomatic", 123 being the country/organization code (e.g. 636 for South Korea), and 45 the registration the number. 01 is reserved for the head of the diplomatic mission, while the rest are given numbers from 02 to 99. Diplomatic mission based outside Hanoi received standard region codes instead of the 80 reserved for Hanoi. For example, diplomatic vehicles based in Da Nang would have a 43-123-NG-45 plate.
  • International organizations based in Hanoi receive the 80-123-QT-45 format, where 80 is the code signifying national importance (i.e. being stationed in Hanoi), QT for quốc tế or "International", 123 the country code, and 45 the number (01 for the head of the organization, 02-99 for other members).
  • International organizations based outside Hanoi receive a slightly different format of 12-QT-345-67, where 12 is the regional code, 345 being the country code, and 67 the number.
Status code Meaning
NG (ngoại giao) Diplomatic
NN (nước ngoài) Foreigners without diplomatic status
QT (quốc tế) International organizations
12-NN-655.11

Military format

Vehicle plate for military vehicle.

Military vehicles bear red plates with white lettering in the format of AB-12-34, where AB is the unit code, and 12-34 being the number.

Military motorcycles receive the two-line AB/123 format, where AB is the unit code, and 123 the number. Mopeds receive an additional letter A after the number.

Temporary plates

Temporary plates are two-line plates with the T12/345.67 format, where T signifies the temporary nature of the plate, 12 being the regional code and 345.67 being the number.

T12
345.67

Codes

The provincial/municipal codes are listed here:

NumberProvince/municipality
11Cao Bằng
12Lạng Sơn
14Quảng Ninh
15, 16Hải Phòng
17Thái Bình
18Nam Định
19Phú Thọ
20Thái Nguyên
21Yên Bái
22Tuyên Quang
23Hà Giang
24Lào Cai
25Lai Châu
26Sơn La
27Điện Biên
28Hòa Bình
29–33, 40Hà Nội
34Hải Dương
35Ninh Bình
36Thanh Hóa
37Nghệ An
38Hà Tĩnh
NumberProvince/municipality
39, 60Đồng Nai
41, 50–59Hồ Chí Minh City
43Đà Nẵng
47Đắk Lắk
48Đắk Nông
49Lâm Đồng
61Bình Dương
62Long An
63Tiền Giang
64Vĩnh Long
65Cần Thơ
66Đồng Tháp
67An Giang
68Kiên Giang
69Cà Mau
70Tây Ninh
71Bến Tre
72Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu
73Quảng Bình
74Quảng Trị
75Thừa Thiên–Huế
76Quảng Ngãi
NumberProvince/municipality
77Bình Định
78Phú Yên
79Khánh Hòa
80Central Government, President and Ministry of Public Security*
81Gia Lai
82Kon Tum
83Sóc Trăng
84Trà Vinh
85Ninh Thuận
86Bình Thuận
88Vĩnh Phúc
89Hưng Yên
90Hà Nam
92Quảng Nam
93Bình Phước
94Bạc Liêu
95Hậu Giang
97Bắc Kạn
98Bắc Giang
99Bắc Ninh
* Note 1: These agencies also use regularly licensed vehicles

References

  1. Nguyen, Dung (2014-09-28). "Vietnamese official had state-owned car with fake license plate". Thanh Nien Daily. Retrieved 2016-11-02. In Vietnam, blue-colored plates designate cars used by government officials.
  2. 1 2 3 "Trailer trucks using fake military license plates confiscated in southern Vietnam". tuoitrenews.vn. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-11-02. In Vietnam, license plates are color-coded to identify vehicles' registered use, with white for individuals or businesses, dark blue for civilian administrative bodies, red for military units, and yellow for construction units or border commands.
  3. 1 2 "1,6 triệu xe kinh doanh vận tải phải đổi sang biển số màu vàng". 8 July 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Vietnam tries to clamp down on illegal use of diplomatic cars". Thanh Nien Daily. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2016-11-02. Foreigners and diplomats are allowed to import cars tax-free for personal use, and they must use license plates marked NN (in black) and NG (in red), respectively.
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