Vehicle registration plates of Brazil
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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.
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 by the same standard as non-vanity plates.
Above the combination is a metallic band with the standardized state abbreviation 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 × 130 mm (15" × 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 1 January 2008.
Colors
Mercosur license plates (2018–)
- Black on white: privately owned vehicles;
- Red on white: any kind of paid transportation (buses, taxis, trucks, etc.) and driving schools (autoescola in Portuguese);
- Blue on white: official use (government-owned cars: police departments, fire departments, federal, state or city public services);
- Grey on white: 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), unrestricted circulation inside and outside Brazil;
- White on black: same as above, but without Mercosur's logo and with circulation restricted inside Brazil;
- Green on white: 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 regular black on white plates; privately owned cars being tested after repairs usually carry dealer-fitted green plates over their black on white plates);
- Gold on white: diplomatic use.
Old system (1990–2018)
- 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).
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The first Brazilian license plate was issued in 1901. The early model of the plates was used until 1913
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Brazilian license plate used between 1915 and 1941, always beginning with the letter P (private) or A (cabs, trucks and buses)
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License plate model used in Brazil between 1941 and 1970. The "Distrito Federal" tag was used in Rio de Janeiro city until 1960, when Brasília became the country's capital and federal district
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Cab - truck - bus license plate used in Brazil between 1941 and 1970. The name "Guanabara" began to be used in Rio de Janeiro city in 1960, referring to the city-state where it belonged until 1975, when it was merged with state of Rio de Janeiro and became its capital
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Private license plate model used in Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil, between 1941 and 1970. The name "Guanabara" began to be used in Rio de Janeiro city in 1960
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Brazilian yellow alphanumeric plate used in private cars between 1971 and 1990
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Brazilian license plate used from 1990 until the exchange for Mercosur plates
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:
| State | 1st sequence | 2nd sequence | 3rd sequence | 4th sequence | 5th sequence | 6th sequence | 7th sequence | 8th sequence | 9th sequence | 10th sequence | 11th sequence | 12th sequence | 13th sequence | 14th sequence | 15th sequence | 16th sequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Bandeira do Paraná.svg Paraná (PR) | AAA to BEZ | RHA to RHZ | SDP to SFO | TAI to TBZ | ||||||||||||
| File:Bandeira do estado de São Paulo.svg São Paulo (SP) | BFA to GKI | QSN to QSZ | SSR to SWZ | TIO to TMJ | ||||||||||||
| File:Bandeira de Minas Gerais.svg Minas Gerais (MG) | GKJ to HOK | NXX to NYG | OLO to OMH | OOV to ORC | OWH to OXK | PUA to PZZ | QMQ to QQZ | QUA to QUZ | QWR to QXZ | RFA to RGD | RMD to RNZ | RTA to RVZ | SHB to SJI | SYA to SYZ | UAI | TCA to
TEZ |
| File:Bandeira do Maranhão.svg Maranhão (MA) | HOL to HQE | NHA to NHT | NMP to NNI | NWS to NXQ | OIR to OJQ | OXQ to OXZ | PSA to PTZ | ROA to ROZ | SMM to SNJ | |||||||
| File:Bandeira de Mato Grosso do Sul.svg Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) | HQF to HTW | NRF to NSD | OOG to OOU | QAA to QAZ | REW to REZ | RWA to RWJ | SLW to SML | |||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Ceará.svg Ceará (CE) | HTX to HZA | NQL to NRE | NUM to NVF | OCB to OCU | OHX to OIQ | ORN to OSV | OZA | PMA to POZ | RIA to RIL | SAN to SBV | THN to TIN | |||||
| File:Bandeira de Sergipe.svg Sergipe (SE) | HZB to IAP | NVG to NVN | OEJ to OES | OZB | QKN to QKZ | QMA to QMP | RQW to RRH | TNU to TOD | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Rio Grande do Sul.svg Rio Grande do Sul (RS) | IAQ to JDO | TQO to TRW | ||||||||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Distrito Federal (Brasil).svg Distrito Federal (DF) | JDP to JKR | OVM to OVV | OZW to PBZ | REC to REV | SGN to SGZ | SSF to SSQ | TUY to TUZ | TVK | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira da Bahia.svg Bahia (BA) | JKS to JSZ | NTD to NTW | NYH to NZZ | OKI to OLG | OUF to OVD | OZC to OZV | PJA to PLZ | QTU to QTZ | RCO to RDR | RPA to RPZ | SJJ to SKT | TGR to THH | ||||
| File:Bandeira do Pará.svg Pará (PA) | JTA to JWE | NSE to NTC | OBT to OCA | OFI to OFW | OSW to OTZ | QDA to QEZ | QVA to QVZ | RWK to RXJ | SZA to SZZ | TVL to TWK | ||||||
| Template:Country data Amazonas (AM) | JWF to JXY | NOI to NPB | OAA to OAO | OXM | PHA to PHZ | QZA to QZZ | TAA to TAH | TRX to TSO | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira de Mato Grosso.svg Mato Grosso (MT) | JXZ to KAU | NIY to NJW | NPC to NPQ | NTX to NUG | OAP to OBS | QBA to QCZ | RAK to RAZ | RRI to RRZ | SPC to SQP | |||||||
| File:Flag of Goiás.svg Goiás (GO) | KAV to KFC | NFC to NGZ | NJX to NLU | NVO to NWR | OGH to OHA | OMI to OOF | PQA to PRZ | QTN to QTS | RBK to RCN | SBW to SDO | TFA to TGN | |||||
| File:Bandeira de Pernambuco.svg Pernambuco (PE) | KFD to KME | NXU to NXW | PEE to PFQ | PFR to PGK | PGL to PGU | OYL to OYZ | PCA to PED | PGV to PGZ | QYA to QYZ | RZE to RZZ | SNK to SPB | |||||
| File:Bandeira do estado do Rio de Janeiro.svg Rio de Janeiro (RJ) | KMF to LVE | RIO to RKV | SQV to SSE | TTA to TUX | ||||||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Piauí.svg Piauí (PI) | LVF to LWQ | NHU to NIX | ODU to OEI | OUA to OUE | OVW to OVY | PIA to PIZ | QRN to QRZ | RSG to RST | SLM to SLV | |||||||
| File:Bandeira de Santa Catarina.svg Santa Catarina (SC) | LWR to MMM | OKD to OKH | QHA to QJZ | QTK to QTM | RAA to RAJ | RDS to REB | RKW to RLP | RXK to RYZ | SXA to SXZ | TPI to TPZ | ||||||
| File:Bandeira da Paraíba.svg Paraíba (PB) | MMN to MOW | NPR to NQK | OET to OFH | OFX to OGG | OXO | QFA to QFZ | QSA to QSM | RLQ to RMC | SKU to SLF | TOT to TPH | ||||||
| File:Bandeira do Espírito Santo.svg Espírito Santo (ES) | MOX to MTZ | OCV to ODT | OVE to OVF | OVH to OVL | OYD to OYK | PPA to PPZ | QRB to QRM | RBA to RBJ | RQM to RQV | SFP to SGM | TOE to TOS | |||||
| File:Bandeira de Alagoas.svg Alagoas (AL) | MUA to MVK | NLV to NMO | OHB to OHK | ORD to ORM | OXN | QLA to QLM | QTT | QWG to QWL | RGO to RGU | SAA to SAJ | TNH to TNT | |||||
| File:Bandeira do Tocantins.svg Tocantins (TO) | MVL to MXG | OLH to OLN | OYA to OYC | QKA to QKM | QWA to QWF | RSA to RSF | RIM to RIN | RMA to RMC | TVA | |||||||
| File:Bandeira do Rio Grande do Norte.svg Rio Grande do Norte (RN) | MXH to MZM | NNJ to NOH | OJR to OKC | OVZ to OWG | QGA to QGZ | RGE to RGN | RQA to RQL | TSP to TSZ | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Acre.svg Acre (AC) | MZM to NAG | NXR to NXT | OVG | OXP | QLU to QLZ | QWM to QWQ | SHA | SQQ to SQU | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira de Roraima.svg Roraima (RR) | NAH to NBA | NUH to NUL | RZA to RZD | |||||||||||||
| File:Bandeira de Rondônia.svg Rondônia (RO) | NBB to NEH | OHL to OHW | OXL | QRA | QTA to QTJ | RSU to RSZ | SLG to SLL | THI to THM | ||||||||
| File:Bandeira do Amapá.svg Amapá (AP) | NEI to NFB | QLN to QLT | SAK to SAM | TGO to TGQ |
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Below is an alphabetically organized list of Letter Sequences and corresponding States. This list is up to date as of June 2025.
2018 Mercosur standard
In October 2014 the design of the new license plate to be used by all Mercosul countries was officially presented. This consists of a plate of Script error: No such module "convert"., 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 Mercosul logo. The typeface used is FE-Schrift.
In September, 2018, Mercosul 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]
The Mercosul license plates have a new alphanumeric format that will allow for more available combinations. While the previous system used a LLL-#### format, the new format is LLL#L##. Vehicles who are to switch their old license plates for the new one will retain their previous license plate number, with the exception of the 2nd digit (5th character). The number in that position of the alphanumberic format is being replaced by a letter, in accordance with the below table.
| 2nd Digit in the previous plate Design ( ABC·1234 Format)
|
4th Letter in the Mercosul Format ( ABC1D23 Format)
|
|---|---|
0
|
A
|
1
|
B
|
2
|
C
|
3
|
D
|
4
|
E
|
5
|
F
|
6
|
G
|
7
|
H
|
8
|
I
|
9
|
J
|
References
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