Original: As with all plates for countries within the European Union , a blue strip on the left shows a shortened country code in white text ( D for Deutschland = Germany ) and the Flag of Europe ( 12 golden stars forming a circle on a blue background ) .
Simplified: German licence plates show a D ( for Deutschland = Germany ) on the blue strip on the left , which shows the European Union 's flag , 12 golden stars in a circle on blue ground .