Vehicle registration plates of Brazil

Brazilian vehicle registration plates are issued by the states. Each state has a Departamento de Trânsito (DETRAN) that is in charge of vehicle registration and car tax collection, but plates are standardized across the country and form a national vehicle registration database.

Brazilian vehicle license plate for a private-use vehicle registered in Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Mercosur-style plates were introduced in September 2018.
Colour schemes denoting functions used in Brazilian license plates in the style that lasted from 1990 to 2018

Description

The current system, being phased out in favor of Mercosul standard plates, was created in 1990 and was named Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores (RENAVAM). It uses the form "LLL·NNNN", where LLL is a three-letter combination followed by a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle stays with it "for life" - it cannot be changed or transferred to another vehicle. Vanity plates are allowed as long as they abide to the same standard as non-vanity plates.

Above the combination is a metallic band with the State abbreviation (SP = São Paulo, RJ = Rio de Janeiro, PR = Paraná, AM = Amazonas etc.) and the name of the municipality in which the vehicle is currently registered. This band has to be changed when a vehicle needs to be registered in a different municipality. Rear number plates are bound to the vehicle by a plastic seal. Broken seals invalidate the number plate, which has to be re-sealed by the authorities. Seals need to be broken in order to change State/Municipality tags.

The size of the Brazilian license plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standardization also requires a unique typeface known as "Mandatory", which is similar to the typeface used on British plates introduced there in 2001. Plates in North American standard or European standard size can no longer be used as of January 1, 2008.

Privately owned license plate in Mandatory font, compulsory since 2012

Colors

  • black on grey: privately owned vehicles
  • white on red: any kind of paid transportation (buses, taxis etc.)
  • red on white: driving school (autoescola in Portuguese)
  • black on white: official use (government-owned cars: police departments, fire departments, federal, state or city public services)
  • gray on black: collector's items (vehicles older than 30 years in excellent state of conservation and in original state - with more than 80% of its original components).
  • white on green: manufacturer plates for vehicles under testing, dealer-testing, or in some cases test-drive (in most cases test-drive cars are registered to the dealership and thus use black on grey plates; privately owned cars being tested after repairs usually carry dealer-fitted green plates over their black on grey plates)
  • white on blue: diplomatic use (in this case in the format CD 1234 or CC 1234) or newer licenses like EMB 1234)

Letters

The letters on the license plate can describe the state where a vehicle was originally registered. Vehicles relocated from one state to another will show the new state/municipality on the replaceable tag, but it is always possible to determine the place of original registration for a used vehicle by observing the license plate range for each Brazilian State:

Rear plate from Pernambuco
Front license plate of a truck from Pernambuco
State1st sequence2nd sequence3rd sequence4th sequence5th sequence6th sequence7th sequence8th sequence9th sequence10th sequence
 Paraná (PR)AAA to BEZ
 São Paulo (SP)BFA to GKIQSN to QSZSAV
 Minas Gerais (MG)GKJ to HOKNXX to NYGOLO to OMHOOV to ORCOWH to OXKPUA to PZZQMQ to QQZQUA to QUZQWR to QXZRFA to RGD
 Maranhão (MA)HOL to HQENHA to NHTNMP to NNINWS to NXQOIR to OJQOXQ to OXZPSA to PTZ
 Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)HQF to HTWNRF to NSDOOG to OOUQAA to QAZ
 Ceará (CE)HTX to HZANQL to NRENUM to NVFOCB to OCUOHX to OIQORN to OSVOZAPMA to POZ
 Sergipe (SE)HZB to IAPNVG to NVNOEJ to OESOZBQKN to QKZQMA to QMP
 Rio Grande do Sul (RS)IAQ to JDO
 Distrito Federal (DF)JDP to JKROVM to OVVOZW to PBZREC to REZ
 Bahia (BA)JKS to JSZNTD to NTWNYH to NZZOKI to OLGOUF to OVDOZC to OZVPJA to PLZQTU to QTZRCO to RDR
 Pará (PA)JTA to JWENSE to NTCOBT to OCAOFI to OFWOSW to OTZQDA to QEZQVA to QVZ
 Amazonas (AM)JWF to JXYNOI to NPBOAA to OAOOXMPHA to PHZQZA to QZZ
 Mato Grosso (MT)JXZ to KAUNIY to NJWNPC to NPQNTX to NUGOAP to OBSQBA to QCZRAK to RAZ
 Goiás (GO)KAV to KFCNFC to NGZNJX to NLUNVO to NWROGH to OHAOMI to OOFPQA to PRZQTN to QTSRBK to RCN
 Pernambuco (PE)KFD to KMENXU to NXWOYL to OYZPCA to PGZQYA to QYZ
 Rio de Janeiro (RJ)KMF to LVERIO
 Piauí (PI)LVF to LWQNHU to NIXODU to OEIOUA to OUEOVW to OVYPIA to PIZQRN to QRZ
 Santa Catarina (SC)LWR to MMMOKD to OKHQHA to QJZQTK to QTMRAA to RAJRDS to REB
 Paraíba (PB)MMN to MOWNPR to NQKOET to OFHOFX to OGGOXOQFA to QFZQSA to QSM
 Espírito Santo (ES)MOX to MTZOCV to ODTOVE to OVFOVH to OVLOYD to OYKPPA to PPZQRB to QRMRBA to RBJ
 Alagoas (AL)MUA to MVKNLV to NMOOHB to OHKORD to ORMOXNQLA to QLMQTTQWG to QWL
 Tocantins (TO)MVL to MXGOLH to OLNOYA to OYCQKA to QKMQWA to QWF
 Rio Grande do NorteMXH to MZMNNJ to NOHOJR to OKCOVZ to OWGQGA to QGZRGE to RGN
 Acre (AC)MZM to NAGNXR to NXTOVGOXPQLU to QLZQWM to QWQ
 Roraima (RR)NAH to NBANUH to NUL
 Rondônia (RO)NBB to NEHOHL to OHWOXLQRAQTA to QTJ
 Amapá (AP)NEI to NFBQLN to QLT

2018 Mercosur standard

Pre-production sample of Brazil's Mercosur license plate. Note that the actual implemented alphanumeric format is different from the one shown above: it is LLLNLNN and not LNLNLLN, as seen here)

In October 2014 the design of the new license plate to be used by all Mercosur countries was officially presented. This consists of a plate of 15.75 in × 5.12 in (400.05 mm × 130.05 mm), with a white background, the characters and frame in black and a blue band at the top that shows the name of the country, its flag and the Mercosur logo. The typeface used is FE-Schrift.

In September, 2018, Mercosur standard license plates started to be adopted in Rio de Janeiro. As of January 2020, all states have started issuing the new plates. By the end of 2023, all vehicles are expected to be carrying these new plates.[1]

gollark: People only complained about that one.
gollark: It works *perfectly*.
gollark: pythøn??
gollark: Okay, there we go.
gollark: ++exec -L python```import math```
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