Flags and UK identifiers on number plates

Nothing on a UK number plate is decorative by accident. The registration, the colours, the font and the British Standard mark are all fixed by the rules for number plates. The one area with a little choice is the narrow band on the left-hand side, and even that is closely defined. Here is what can go there — and what cannot.

The four flags you may display

GOV.UK's page on flags, identifiers and stickers allows one of four flags on the left-hand side of the plate:

• the Union flag;
• the Cross of St George;
• the Cross of St Andrew (the Saltire);
• the Red Dragon of Wales.

Anything else — a chequered flag, a club badge, a manufacturer logo, an EU ring of stars — is not on the list and is not permitted on a road-legal plate. The same applies to a flag placed anywhere other than the left-hand band.

The identifier letters

Under the flag you may display a national identifier. The permitted wording is:

Country	Permitted identifiers
United Kingdom	UNITED KINGDOM, United Kingdom or UK
Great Britain	GREAT BRITAIN, Great Britain or GB
England	ENGLAND, England, ENG or Eng
Scotland	SCOTLAND, Scotland, SCO or Sco
Wales	CYMRU, Cymru, CYM or Cym, WALES or Wales

The rules on placement are strict: the flag must be above the identifier, neither may sit in the plate's margin, and neither may be more than 50 millimetres wide. A flag with no letters is allowed; letters with no flag are allowed; a combination that is not in the table — say, a Saltire over “UK” — is not. Nothing in the band may crowd or overlap the registration, which still has to keep its full legal character size and spacing (see our spacing rules guide).

Driving abroad: when the identifier saves you a sticker

The identifier is more than decoration when you leave the UK. According to GOV.UK you must display a UK sticker on the rear of the vehicle when driving outside the UK if your plate has:

• numbers and letters only — no flag or identifier;
• a GB identifier with the Union flag;
• a national flag of England, Scotland or Wales.

You do not need a sticker if the plate shows the UK identifier with the Union flag. In other words, only the “UK” wording counts for travel; a “GB” plate, however new, still needs a UK sticker alongside it. Rules for individual countries can add to this, so check the entry requirements for where you are driving before you go.

The green flash for zero-emission vehicles

The rules for number plates also allow a plate to display a green flash if you have a zero-emission vehicle. The green band sits on the left-hand side in place of, or alongside, the flag band, and it is optional — a fully electric car can be on plain plates. It is for zero-emission vehicles only: a hybrid or plug-in hybrid does not qualify, and putting a green flash on one is displaying the plate incorrectly. The flash does not change any other rule; the registration, font, colours and BS AU 145e marking are the same as on any other plate.

Why the band is limited to 50mm

The width limit is not arbitrary. A standard plate has fixed margins and fixed character sizes, and the registration has to keep its full legal spacing whatever else is on the plate. A band wider than 50mm would push the characters together or into the margin, and the plate would fail on spacing even if the flag itself were allowed. The same logic applies to anything printed on a plate: it can only occupy space the registration does not need. If a flag design looks as though the characters have been squeezed to make room for it, it almost certainly has.

Is my flag plate legal? A quick check

• The flag is one of the four: Union flag, Cross of St George, Saltire or Red Dragon.
• The letters under it are from the permitted list, and the country matches the flag.
• Flag above letters, on the left, neither wider than 50mm, neither in the margin.
• The registration keeps its full character size and spacing, and the plate carries the BS AU 145e mark and supplier details.
• No other logo, badge, slogan or symbol anywhere on the plate.

What we supply

The plates made in our builder are supplied plain: the registration on the correct reflective background, in the legal font, with the BS AU 145e mark and our supplier details — and no flag, identifier or green flash. That is a fully road-legal plate. The only practical consequence is that if you drive abroad you will need a UK sticker on the rear of the vehicle, which is the case for the majority of plates on UK roads today.

If you want a flag on a show or display plate that will never be used on the road, that is a different product with different rules — see show plates. On a road-legal plate, the safest reading of the rules is the simplest: the four flags, the listed letters, on the left, no wider than 50mm, or nothing at all.

Common questions