Question: how can you tell the age of a french car

title: Vehicle registration plates of France
text: Registration plates issued after 2009 must be displayed in accordance with the 9 February 2009 Order ( French : Arrêté du 9 février 2009 ) . They must be made of reflex - reflecting material , white at the front and rear , with black non-reflecting characters . Characters may be displayed on one or two lines . The industry standard size number plate is 520 mm × 110 mm ( 20.5 in × 4.3 in ) or 520 mm × 120 mm ( 20.5 in × 4.7 in ) if it includes a horizontal cartouche to display information about the car dealer . The left side of the plate must contain a blue band with the letter F for France under the stars of the European flag . A similar band must be present on the right side to display a départment code and the symbol of the region where the départment is located .