The Wild History of License Plates: From Leather Tags to Invisible Chips
Picture this: Paris, 1895. A brave soul is scaring horses on the Champs-Élysées in a rattling gasoline contraption. A furious policeman shouts, “Hey you! Identify yourself!” The driver proudly points to a leather tag stitched on the front: “Count de Dion, 12 Rue de Rivoli.” That, ladies and gentlemen, was the world’s first license plate.
Over the next 130 years, that humble piece of leather evolved into a passport for your car, a propaganda tool, a status symbol, and soon… something you won’t even see. In 2025, as electric cars glide silently and robotaxis rule the streets, license plates are going through their biggest makeover ever.
Buckle up. Here’s the full story—complete with rare photos, insane auction prices, and a glimpse of what’s coming next.
Late 19th Century: DIY Era and the First Fines
Cars existed. Rules didn’t. Owners hung anything: hotel room numbers, playing cards, even a “Tuс de Pique” on one London lunatic’s radiator.
1893 – France becomes the first country to require registration. Plate “1” goes to Parisian aristocrat Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat. It still hangs in the Mercedes-Benz museum.
1896 – Britain issues the world’s first fine for missing a plate. One clever driver pinned his sign… to his own back. The cop laughed so hard he almost forgot the ticket.
Museum gem: 1894 Benz Velo with a leather tag reading “Dr. Benz, Mannheim.”
1900s: Standards Are Born and the Number Race Begins
1901 – New York starts selling aluminum plates for $1. Queues stretched around the block.
1903 – Germany invents the system we still recognize: region letter + number. “I A 1” belongs to Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Russia joins in 1904. St. Petersburg’s city hall issues “A-123.” Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich scores “A-1.”
By 1910 every European country demands two plates plus kerosene-lamp illumination at night. Forget it? Pay a week’s salary.
Auction madness 2023: British “A1” from 1903 sold for £500,000. The buyer still drives it on his Bentley.
1920s–1940s: War, Propaganda, and Color Codes
After WWI, plates become political weapons.
USSR 1934: black letters on yellow. 1936 switch to white on black. Stalin’s limo? “M-01-01” (still parked in the Kremlin garage).
USA: every state gets its own style. California “Sunshine State” yellow-on-black, Texas Lone Star.
WWII: Germans roll out “WH” (Wehrmacht), “WL” (Luftwaffe), “SS” (you know). All banned forever after 1945.
1930s Italy: red plates for taxis only—so you don’t confuse them with mafia Fiats at night.
Partisan hack: Yugoslav guerrillas repainted German plates overnight and stole entire convoys.
1950s–1980s: Mass Motoring and Reflective Magic
Post-war car boom. Europe standardizes: white background, black letters, 520×110 mm.
USSR 1959: “A 12-34 AB,” later regional codes. Moscow = “MOS,” Leningrad = “LEN.”
Japan: hieroglyphs decide everything. Green = private car, yellow = commercial, white-with-green-stripe = kei-car.
1970s: 3M Scotchlite reflective coating. At night your plate glows 200 meters away.
Miami Vice era: Forging plates for stolen Ferraris becomes a $500-a-pop industry.
1990s–2010s: Vanity Plates and Million-Dollar Auctions
1990s: USA & UK allow personalized plates. “GOD” in London = £250,000. “ILUVU” on wedding Corvettes = classic.
Dubai 2008: plate “1” sells for $14 million. Sheikh Saeed Al-Khaili still holds the record.
EU 1998: blue stripe with flag and country code.
Russia 1993: three letters, three digits, region code. 2013 adds square moto plates and red “transit” temp tags.
Norway: green plates for EVs = free parking and charging.
2023 record: UAE “P7” = $15 million. More expensive than a Bugatti Chiron.
2020s: Digital Revolution and the End of Metal
2020s – plates go digital.
California: Reviver e-ink plates. Can flash “STOLEN” or Starbucks ads while parked.
China: QR codes on plates. Scan with phone = full vehicle history.
Australia 2024: RPlate digital tablets. Sell the car? Re-register in 30 seconds.
2025 trends:
- RFID chips: insurance, MOT, tolls—all in one.
- Singapore: temporary digital plates for car-sharing.
- EU plans single digital ID for the whole union by 2030.
Kazakhstan is testing RFID on the Almaty–Astana highway—truck passes, money deducted automatically.
2035 forecast: Physical plates disappear. Autonomous cars will be identified by VIN, 5G, and driver biometrics. That metal rectangle becomes a vintage accessory, like a carburetor.
Epilogue
License plates are a metallic chronicle of humanity. They survived two world wars, the Cold War, the internet, and a pandemic. They’ve been leather, wood, reflective, and soon—invisible.