Норвежские автомобильные номерные знаки

Norway vehicle license plates

The registration plates of cars in Norway are maintained by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. As in most countries, cars are identified only by number plates read visually. Each plate is a legal document that both identifies the vehicle and permits its use, and shall be returned to the registration authority when the vehicle is no longer in use. The current alphanumerical system (two letters followed by four or five numbers) was introduced in 1971. The design of the plates remained the same until 2002, when the road authorities decided on a new font which standardized the width of each character. The new design was unsuccessful due to legibility issues, for example the letters "A" and "R" were often hard to distinguish. From 2006 the font was changed again to improve legibility, and space was provided for a blue nationality stripe with a Norwegian flag. From 2009, plates were made of plastic, and produced in a factory at Tønsberg. From 2012, plates are again produced in aluminum due to the plastic plates easily getting damaged in winter.

Between 1993 and 2012, self adhesive validation stickers in primary colours were issued annually to every car that had valid road tax and insurance and had passed its latest biennial safety and emissions test. The stickers included the registration number in the form of a bar code, and changed colour every year on a three year cycle: red, blue and yellow. The use of validation stickers was discontinued from May 2012. The police will now rely on automated systems which photograph the number plate, identify the registration number using optical character recognition, and check the car's status in a database.

Norwegian plates manufactured after 1 November 2006 have a nationality stripe on the left end of the plates. This stripe is blue with Norway's national flag and international vehicle registration code "N", in a similar format to that used by many central European countries before they became EU members. The resemblance to EU registration plates infuriated some adherents of the anti EU movement, leading the Public Roads Administration to issue white or black adhesive labels with which they could cover the blue stripe.

Norway does not have any particular numbering scheme or plate kind to indicate vehicle usage such as police, taxi, ambulance or others, except for type E plates used by foreign diplomats. The numbers for all plates except type C have a code consisting of two letters and a serial number. Class C only carries a sequence number. The letters identify the district in which the vehicle was first registered. For example, in Stavanger, prefixes like RE, RH and RJ are used. The car registration number is not altered when the owner moves to another town, or if it is sold. The registration number is assigned to a vehicle's chassis number (often etched into the wall, or on a plaque inside the engine room (older cars), or on a small plate in the lower corner of the windscreen (newer cars)) when it is first imported to Norway. Example; A Toyota Corolla from 1972 imported and first time registered in Oslo would have the letters DA assigned to its chassis number (KE20 XXXXX) + the five numbers that makes the car unique. Also, registration numbers are usually assigned to groups of cars imported into Norway. Another example; If a car dealer imports 16 cars to Hamar in one shipment, the entire shipment would, as an example, be registered as FS10000, FS10001, and so on, up to FS10015. A way of seeing how old a car is from its registration number is noticing the car's age and compare it to the registration number, as a 1970–1973 model car registered in Oslo will have the DA prefix. This is not always the cause, as it depends on when the car is imported into Norway. Oslo began in 1971 with "DA", and proceeded to "DB" around 1974, to DC in 1977, DD around 1980, DE around 1984, DF around 1987, DH in 1992, DJ around 1997, DK around 2000, DL around 2006, DN around 2008, and DP around 2010. A car may also have been assigned a new registration number after its former one has been reported stolen or lost. The city of Bergen has previously used the SV series. However, SV is also used as the short form for "Sosialistisk Venstreparti," (Socialist Left Party) a political party. This caused some people from Bergen to register their cars elsewhere.

From 1 April 1900 to 31 March 1913 regional license plates with only digits were in use. The license plates were in black with digits and the name of the province/town in white. Surviving vehicles from the period may use the original license plates. Only a handful of such vehicles exist today. From 1 April 1913 to 31 March 1971 only a single letter was used on Norwegian vehicle license plates. From 1958 an additional series with 6 digits in 3 groups was in use in Oslo. Vehicles older than 1971 (import or Norwegian) may use single letter plates of the current owners choice, although within existing letter codes and 3–6 digits, or 6 digits without letter. Once chosen, the license plates follow the vehicle. Common practice is to use the earliest known or available single letter plates on which the car was registered.