France license plates

Format, region codes and a plate generator for France.

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Custom text: real plates never carry this combination.

This image is not a license plate: it must not be fitted to a vehicle and does not mean the combination is available.

Plate types

How to read the plate

EU band

The blue band with the EU flag and the country code F.

Region code

In a separate field of the plate.

Series and number

Letters and digits — the registration itself.

County

The first characters are the code of the county where the car is registered: The county where the car is registered is shown separately on the plate:

A French SIV plate reads AB-123-CD: two letters, three digits and two more letters, without I, O and U. The number is national and stays with the car for life. The blue band on the right carries a mandatory territorial identifier — a department number and the logo of its region. Owners choose the department themselves — any one, not necessarily where they live — and can change it at any time without re-registering, so the code on the right does not necessarily match the place of registration. On the left is the EU band with the letter F.

Region map

Click a region to see its codes.

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Region codes

102 regions

Region	Code
Ain	01
Aisne	02
Allier	03
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence	04
Hautes-Alpes	05
Alpes-Maritimes	06
Ardèche	07
Ardennes	08
Ariège	09
Aube	10
Aude	11
Aveyron	12
Bouches-du-Rhône	13
Calvados	14
Cantal	15
Charente	16
Charente-Maritime	17
Cher	18
Corrèze	19
Côte-d'Or	21
Côtes-d'Armor	22
Creuse	23
Dordogne	24
Doubs	25
Drôme	26
Eure	27
Eure-et-Loir	28
Finistère	29
Gard	30
Haute-Garonne	31
Gers	32
Gironde	33
Hérault	34
Ille-et-Vilaine	35
Indre	36
Indre-et-Loire	37
Isère	38
Jura	39
Landes	40
Loir-et-Cher	41
Loire	42
Haute-Loire	43
Loire-Atlantique	44
Loiret	45
Lot	46
Lot-et-Garonne	47
Lozère	48
Maine-et-Loire	49
Manche	50
Marne	51
Haute-Marne	52
Mayenne	53
Meurthe-et-Moselle	54
Meuse	55
Morbihan	56
Moselle	57
Nièvre	58
Nord	59
Oise	60
Orne	61
Pas-de-Calais	62
Puy-de-Dôme	63
Pyrénées-Atlantiques	64
Hautes-Pyrénées	65
Pyrénées-Orientales	66
Bas-Rhin	67
Haut-Rhin	68
Rhône	69
Haute-Saône	70
Saône-et-Loire	71
Sarthe	72
Savoie	73
Haute-Savoie	74
Paris	75
Seine-Maritime	76
Seine-et-Marne	77
Yvelines	78
Deux-Sèvres	79
Somme	80
Tarn	81
Tarn-et-Garonne	82
Var	83
Vaucluse	84
Vendée	85
Vienne	86
Haute-Vienne	87
Vosges	88
Yonne	89
Territoire de Belfort	90
Essonne	91
Hauts-de-Seine	92
Seine-Saint-Denis	93
Val-de-Marne	94
Val-d'Oise	95
Guadeloupe	971
Martinique	972
French Guiana	973
Réunion	974
Mayotte	976
Corse-du-Sud	2A
Haute-Corse	2B
Corsica (until 1976)The Corsica department was split in 1976 into Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse (2A and 2B). Code 20 survives only on old FNI plates and is not allowed on SIV.	20

History

From 1950 to 2009 the FNI system was used: 1234 AB 56 or 123 ABC 75, where the department code at the end matched the place of registration, and the number changed when the owner moved. Such plates remain valid until the car is sold or the address changes, and are still very common on older cars. Under FNI, Corsica had code 20 until 1976 (then 2A and 2B), and the departments around Paris got codes 91–95 in 1968 — until 1962, 91–94 and 99 stood for departments of Algeria. The current SIV system was introduced on 15 April 2009 for new cars and from October 2009 for re-registrations.