Present Italian car number plates have black characters on a rectangular white background, with small blue side-fields on the right and left (see European vehicle registration plates). The current numbering scheme, in use from 1994, is unrelated to the geographical provenance of the car. By law, Italian plates can only be made by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato and issued by local departments of motor vehicles.
Video Vehicle registration plates of Italy
History
1897-1901
The very first Italian plates. They had to have the owner's name and the local communal number that had to be visible.
1901-1905
These early Italian number plates gave the unabbreviated name of the place of origin, followed by a number, as GENOVA 83 and PADOVA 2. These were first plates to be made of metal and had to be done by the car's owner.Today, only two plates of that time remained, GENOVA 83 and PADOVA 2, conserved in museums.
Schematic representation:
1905-1927
Plate was black-on-white. The registration number was a numeric code (in red), different for each province, and a progressive number on a single line, unique for that province (in black). E.g. 63 - 2993, where 63 is the code for Turin. Motorcycle plates had squared plates
Front plate was considered completely optional
Schematic representation:
1927-1976
In 1927, Mussolini changes the number plates from white background with black digits, to black background with white digits and introduces the compulsory two letter provincial code for all provinces (except for Rome since it was the capital so it was allowed to have the full name on the number plate until 1994) instead of the number system used until 1927.
From 1927 to 1932, the progressive code was before the provincial code on a single line. Then, the progressive code was before the provincial code in front plates and after it in rear plates. Although Rome had the full name displayed on the number plates, in documents for practical purposes it uses the unofficial code RM.
From 1932 to 1951, Rear plate was square 32.0 x 22.0 cm and used a slightly altered Garamond font. Rear plate had from 1928 to 1944, the Fasces emblem next to the provincial code. After Mussolini's fall, in 1944 to 1948 the Association of War Maimed and Disabled printed the number plates and their symbol appeared instead of the Fasces. In 1948 the Italian Republic Constitution was approved, so the Republic emblem appeared on the number plate on both rear and front plates but the format and font were kept from the previous period, only that the Republic emblem is bigger in these plates than the 1951-1976 period.
From 1951 to 1976, Rear plate size was reduced to a square 27.5 × 20 cm, front plate was 26.2 × 5.7 cm, font was changed to have more linear characters and the Republic emblem was made smaller. Note that single line rear registration plates (similar to the ones used by other European countries) were not available until 1976. The registration number was the provincial code, which is a two-letter code (exception: Rome's code is Roma), and a progressive code, unique for that province, up to 6 characters long. Between the provincial code and the first two digits there's the Italian Republic emblem (a garland surrounding a five-pointed star with the letters "RI" in the middle of the star)
The progressive code for the first 999999 cars of the provinces was just a progressive number, not filled with initial zeroes; in the rear plate the last four digits are in the second row and the first ones (when present) in the first row. For cars from 1000000, it was A00000-A99999, B00000-B99999 etc. Possible letters were, in this order, A B D E F G H K L M N P R S T U V Z X Y W. After that, it was 00000A-99999A, 00000D-99999D etc. Possible letters were, in this order, A D E F G H L M N P R S T V W X Y Z; then, the letter was moved to the second position, and then to third (same range as in second position).
Schematic representation:
Front Plate
1927-1932 rear plate
1976-1985
Front plate was kept intact as in the period 1927-1976. Rear plate, instead, was changed in two pieces. One, size 10,7 × 33 cm, black background with white digits, contains the progressive number and, very small, the repetition of provincial code above the Republic emblem. The other black background with orange letters, contained the official provincial code and had two variants. One was 10,7 × 33 cm, the other one was 10,7 × 20 cm. Only one of the latter two was used depending on the type of plate holder that was destined for: for a rectangular plate holder, the small provincial code piece was installed left of the progressive code, put together with rivets in specifically designed holes in the progressive code For cars that were designed with the previous number plate holder (Square), or too small for a rectangular plate, the long provincial code piece was installed above the progressive code. This change resolved the plate positioning problem on cars of foreign production, eventually the rectangular European system was preferred over the squared plate holder of Italian designed cars.
Maps Vehicle registration plates of Italy
References
External links
- Plates in Rome provides detailed coverage of Italian number plates from 1903 onwards.
- Italian plates With details and images
Source of article : Wikipedia
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