# Vehicle registration plates of Vietnam

Vehicle registration plates of Vietnam generally take the form DDLL-DDD.DD 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 character Đ.

## 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

* President's cars, Government's cars, law enforcement cars – White on blue
* Private vehicles – Black on white
* Commercial vehicle, construction vehicles – Black on yellow
* Military's cars – White on red
* Diplomat's cars – Black on white with red NG code
* Foreigner-owned cars – Black on white with black NN code

## Formats
### Regular plates

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 | Civilian-purposed vehicles of military enterprise |
| 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 |
| MĐ | Two-wheeled vehicles with electric power source |
| MK | Tractors |
| SAXA | Large-size equipment, e.g. combine harvesters, etc. (Note: This also comes with a yellow background.) |
| TĐ | Vietnam-made vehicles |
| MK | Tractor |
| RM | Semi-trailer and semi-trailer truck |

### Other formats
#### Commercial format

After 1 August 2020, all commercial vehicles in Vietnam must change to a yellow color vehicle plate.
| NNL N N N N | NNL NNN.NN |
* NNL-N N N N
* NNL-NNN.NN

#### State-owned format

Vehicles of state organizations receive plates with white lettering on blue backgrounds. The format is either NNL-NNN.NN or NNL-NNNN, where NN is the regional code, L is the serial, NNN.NN/NNNN is the number.
| NNL N N N N | NNL NNN.NN |
* NNL-N N N N
* NNL-NNN.NN

#### Motorcycles

Motorcycles receive two-line plates of the NN-LL/NNN.NN (or equivalently NNLL-NNN.NN on registration certificate), which replaced the previous NN-LN/NNNN and NN-LN/NNN.NN format (which are still effective in circulation), with black lettering on white backgrounds.
| NN-LN N N N N | NN-LN NNN.NN | NN-LL NNN.NN |
Two-wheel vehicles registered before August 15, 2023, with electric power source use the NN-MĐN/NNN.NN format.
* NN-MĐN NNN.NN

#### Diplomatic plates

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), the red 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 345.67
* 12-NN-345.67

#### Temporary plates

Temporary plates are two-line plates with the TNN-NNN.NN format, where T signifies the temporary nature of the plate, NNN.NN being the regional code and NNN.NN being the number.

#### Military format

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.

## Codes

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

## Foreign Countries Codes

| Country Code (Organization) | County (Organization) |
| 001-005 | Austria |
| 006-010 | Albania |
| 011-015 | United Kingdom |
| 016-020 | Egypt |
| 021-025 | Azerbaijan |
| 026-030 | India |
| 031-035 | Angola |
| 036-040 | I.R. Afghanistan |
| 041-045 | Algeria |
| 046-050 | Argentina |
| 051-055 | Armenia |
| 056-060 | Iceland |
| 061-065 | Belgium |
| 066-070 | Poland |
| 071-075 | Portugal |
| 076-080 | Bulgaria |
| 081-085 | Burkina Faso |
| 086-090 | Brazil |
| 091-095 | Bangladesh |
| 096-100 | Belarus |
| 101-105 | Bolivia |
| 106-110 | Benin |
| 111-115 | Brunei |
| 116-120 | Burundi |
| 121-125 | Cuba |
| 126-130 | Ivory Coast |
| 131-135 | Congo-Brazzaville |
| 136-140 | Congo-Kinshasa |
| 141-145 | Chile |
| 146-150 | Colombia |
| 151-155 | Cameroon |
| 156-160 | Canada |
| 161-165 | Kuwait |
| 166-170 | Cambodia |
| 171-175 | Kyrgyzstan |
| 176-180 | Qatar |
| 181-185 | Cape Verde |
| 186-190 | Costa Rica |
| 191-195 | Germany |
| 196-200 | Zambia |
| 201-205 | Zimbabwe |
| 206-210 | Denmark |
| 211-215 | Ecuador |
| 216-220 | Eritrea |
| 221-225 | Ethiopia |
| 226-230 | Estonia |
| 231-235 | Guyana |
| 236-240 | Gabon |
| 241-245 | The Gambia |
| 246-250 | Djibouti |
| 251-255 | Georgia |
| 256-260 | Jordan |
| 261-265 | Guinea |
| 266-270 | Ghana |
| 271-275 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 276-280 | Grenada |
| 281-285 | Equatorial Guinea |
| 286-290 | Guatemala |
| 291-295 | Hungary |
| 296-300, 771-775 | United States |
| 301-305 | Netherlands |
| 306-310 | Greece |
| 311-315 | Jamaica |
| 316-320 | Indonesia |
| 321-325 | Iran |
| 326-330 | Iraq |
| 331-335 | Italy |
| 336-340 | Israel |
| 341-345 | Kazakhstan |
| 346-350 | Laos |
| 351-355 | Lebanon |
| 356-360 | Libya |
| 361-365 | Luxembourg |
| 366-370 | Lithuania |
| 371-375 | Latvia |
| 376-380 | Myanmar |
| 381-385 | Mongolia |
| 386-390 | Mozambique |
| 391-395 | Madagascar |
| 396-400 | Moldova |
| 401-405 | Maldives |
| 406-410 | Mexico |
| 411-415 | Mali |
| 416-420 | Malaysia |
| 421-425 | Morocco |
| 426-430 | Mauritania |
| 431-435 | Malta |
| 436-440 | Marshall Islands |
| 441-445 | Russia |
| 446-450, 776-780 | Japan |
| 451-455 | Nicaragua |
| 456-460 | New Zealand |
| 461-465 | Niger |
| 466-470 | Nigeria |
| 471-475 | Namibia |
| 476-480 | Nepal |
| 481-485 | South Africa |
| 486-490 | Yugoslavia |
| 491-495 | Norway |
| 496-500 | Oman |
| 501-505 | Australia |
| 506-510 | France |
| 511-515 | Fiji |
| 516-520 | Pakistan |
| 521-525 | Finland |
| 526-530 | Philippines |
| 531-535 | Palestine |
| 536-540 | Panama |
| 541-545 | Papua New Guinea |
| 546-550 | International Organizations |
| 551-555 | Rwanda |
| 556-560 | Romania |
| 561-565 | Chad |
| 566-570 | Czech Republic |
| 571-575 | Cyprus |
| 576-580 | Spain |
| 581-585 | Sweden |
| 586-590 | Tanzania |
| 591-595 | Togo |
| 596-600 | Tajikistan |
| 601-605 | China |
| 606-610 | Thailand |
| 611-615 | Turkmenistan |
| 616-620 | Tunisia |
| 621-625 | Turkey |
| 626-630 | Switzerland |
| 631-635 | DPR Korea |
| 636-640 | Korea (ROK) |
| 641-645 | United Arab Emirates |
| 646-650 | Samoa |
| 651-655 | Ukraine |
| 656-660 | Uzbekistan |
| 661-665 | Uganda |
| 666-670 | Uruguay |
| 671-675 | Vanuatu |
| 676-680 | Venezuela |
| 681-685 | Sudan |
| 686-690 | Sierra Leone |
| 691-695 | Singapore |
| 696-700 | Sri Lanka |
| 701-705 | Somalia |
| 706-710 | Senegal |
| 711-715 | Syria |
| 716-720 | Sahrawi |
| 721-725 | Seychelles |
| 726-730 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| 731-735 | Slovakia |
| 736-740 | Yemen |
| 741-745 | Liechtenstein |
| 746-750 | Hong Kong |
| 751-755 | East Timor |
| 756-760 | European Union |
| 761-765 | Saudi Arabia |
| 766-770 | Liberia |
| 781-785 | Haiti |
| 786-790 | Peru |
| 791 | Andorra |
| 792 | Anguilla |
| 793 | Antigua and Barbuda |
| 794 | Bahamas |
| 795 | Bahrain |
| 796 | Barbados |
| 797 | Belize |
| 798 | Bermuda |
| 799 | Bhutan |
| 800 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 801-805 | Ireland |
| 806 | Kenya |
| 807 | Botswana |
| 808 | Comoros |
| 809 | Dominican Republic |
| 810 | North Macedonia |
| 811 | Central African Republic |
| 812 | Croatia |
| 813 | Curaçao |
| 814 | Dominica |
| 815 | El Salvador |
| 816 | Honduras |
| 817 | Kiribati |
| 818 | Lesotho |
| 819 | Micronesia |
| 820 | Malawi |
| 821 | Mauritius |
| 822 | Monaco |
| 823 | Montenegro |
| 824 | South Sudan |
| 825 | Nauru |
| 826 | Niue |
| 827 | Palau |
| 828 | Paraguay |
| 829 | Cook Islands |
| 830 | Puerto Rico |
| 831 | Northern Mariana Islands |
| 832 | Solomon Islands |
| 833 | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| 834 | Saint Lucia |
| 835 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| 836 | San Marino |
| 837 | Slovenia |
| 838 | Suriname |
| 839 | Eswatini |
| 840 | Tonga |
| 841 | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 842 | Tuvalu |
| 843 | Holy See |
| 885-890 | Chinese Taipei |