The license plate
The car is getting too fast for Uncle Cop on his bike. In order to identify the car, it had to be provided with a number plate. The Netherlands started early. The first car came in 1896 and the first license plates came in 1898. Simple No. 1 first.
In 1906 a plate with a letter per province follows. From now on, the driver must have a driver's license and proof of number. From 1951, a national system followed, which was managed by the newly established National Road Transport Agency, the RDW. This was necessary because the increased prosperity also increased the number of vehicles.
The Netherlands is one of the first countries to introduce a license plate, called driving permits. France introduces the license plate in 1893 via the Paris Police Regulation followed by Germany in 1896. The Netherlands follows in 1898 with a national system. It started at no. 1 and on August 8, 1899 the counter stood at 168. When it was decided on January 15, 1906 to change the system, the counter stood at 2001 driving permits. The USA compulsory license plates as of 1901. These were not issued by the government but had to be made by the owners themselves. Massachusetts was the first state to issue records. In 1903, '1' was issued to Frederick Tudor. His family still has the active registration papers. In the beginning, for example, in New York state, the initials of the owner had to be on the license plate. Only the format of the characters was stuck. Some she made on a steel plate, a piece of leather or painted them on the car. People were happy with these kinds of laws because it recognized the car as a permanent thing. Until then, there were many laws that could sometimes differ from city to city. In fact, this new law introduced a minimum speed limit of 8 mph in the city and 15 mpg out there. The launch was on April 25. As of May 2, there were already 17 registration requests. Due to the rapid increase in the number of cars, the system proved untenable, because there were too many people with the same initials. The introduction of the modern license plate was a fact. Although the state did not record its own records until 1910 give out. In the UK the first plates were issued in 1904 with the introduction of the 1903 Motor Car Act.
The system differs per country. Sometimes the record is unique in the country, but also often only within a state or province. Often, colors and names are used to distinguish the plates. Usually a plate has to be mounted at the front and rear, with exceptions such as engines. Often a license plate belongs to the vehicle and all kinds of data are linked to the license plate, not only of the vehicle but also of the owner. Some countries allow personalized license plates.
The license plate expires upon disassembly or export. The vehicle must be re-registered in the new country upon export. China requires every vehicle that crosses the border into the country to register in the country, no matter how short the crossing takes. This must be arranged beforehand.
In the USA the registration must be renewed periodically. In order to save costs, a sticker is often stuck on the license plate or on the windshield of the car. Some states assign the license plates to the vehicle, others to the owner.
Often a license plate is attached to the car using a license plate holder. This often contains advertising from a car company or a self-chosen text. There are US states where the use of a holder is prohibited.
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Plates must meet certain requirements in terms of format, legibility and illumination. It is often forbidden to use covers that should prevent the electronic reading of the record. The first plates were made of porcelain fired on iron, enamel, or ceramic. They were very fragile. There are hardly any records left of this type. Subsequent experiments were conducted with cardboard, leather, plastic and during the wartime shortages of copper and soybeans.
1938 Pontiac with a Dutch embassy badge
Provincial Dutch registration number for H 2100
In 1948, the Kentucky State Police issued new license plates.
When the number plates were still mounted on separate holders, there was room for a 'license plate topper'. These were often advertising texts for companies, but thematic toppers were also available during elections and days out.
After the Dutch black and blue number plates with white letters from the 1950s to the 1970s, the yellow reflective number plate with black letters followed in 1978. The yellow color made it easier to read the letters from a distance and the reflective paint made the plate readable even in the dark. If you have driven through a red light somewhere in the dark, your license plate is now clearly visible in the photo.
In the past you could just have a license plate made, which sometimes led to fraud. For example, a stolen car could easily be provided with a false license plate. There were also stories of taxi companies that had several cars with the same license plate. For example, road tax and insurance only had to be paid once. That is why in 2000 the GAIK (Controlled Issue and Collection of License Plates) was introduced for all license plates from 1978.
From that moment on, every plate that was awarded had to be be registered. In addition, the blue EU logo appeared on the plate for the first time, which must be on every number plate from 2003. This is much to the chagrin of anti-EU movements. The colors of the plates were also adjusted. While the license plate for traders was already green, taxis must carry a blue plate with black letters from 2000. Trailers under 750kg and bicycle carriers receive a white plate with the same number and letter combination as the towing vehicle. Trailers above 750kg get their own registration number and so yellow license plate. Vehicles sold for export receive a special white export registration number which is valid for 14 days.
An overview of the first number cards, published in De Auto of January 25, 1906
From 20 February 1898, the use of national roads and paths for vehicles heavier than 150 kg, provided that they were propelled by a mechanical force, required a permit from the Rijkswege. From 1906 to 1951 there were individual province numbers with a separate letter followed by a number for each province.
A = Groningen
B = Friesland
D = Drenthe
E = Overijssel
G, GZ = North Holland
H, HZ = South Holland
K = Zeeland
L = Utrecht
M = Gelderland
N = North Brabant
P = Limburg
R = Departments
In 1951, a national system was switched over because traffic increasingly crossed provincial borders. This created the RDW (Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer), which to date manages the registration and issue of Dutch vehicle registration certificates. The first series of the national system consisted of two letters, two numbers and again two numbers (XX-99-99). The first registration number that was issued was ND-00-01 (to a Ford Taunus: see photo right). The license plates were (dark) blue with white letters. An important difference with the period before 1951 was that the license plates were now no longer linked to the owner of the car, but always remained with the same car, regardless of how often the car changed hands. In 1956 the last provincial numbers still in circulation were replaced by the new registration system as we know it today (albeit with yellow number plates with black letters instead of the blue number plates with white letters).
Driving permit 1161, a White steam car from 1904/1905. This was in the name of Mrs. JAL Holle van Motman from Olst. The car is in the courtyard of ERAG in Rotterdam. Photo comes from Smits' collection. Source Conam
The information below comes from the Conam website. They have much more interesting information about the history of vehicles and motoring. Also read the beautiful article about the history of the registration certificate on their website site .
From January 1, 1951, a new license plate system came into effect in the Netherlands. These are the vehicle-related license plates for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, buses and motorcycles. In short, we call these the 'blue number plates', although we should really call them 'Vehicle-related national registration plates after 1950' or 'National registration plates after 1950'. This system still applies today. First, the new license plates were issued in addition to the existing nationality certificate. From November 1, 1952, both functions are united in the registration certificate. The new license plates consisted of six characters, starting with two letters followed by two digits twice. Each pair of letters/numbers was separated by a hyphen. This combination was chosen at the time because it was believed to be the easiest to remember.
The Dutch vehicle owners had to get used to the new system in the beginning, which in their eyes was meaningless and boring. At least the province numbers said something about the province they came from. This 'personal identity' had now been completely eradicated. The earliest issued license plates all started with an N. The letters ND were intended for passenger cars and combination cars with three or four wheels. The letters NA were issued for commercial vehicles and buses smaller than 2.20. NB was intended for commercial vehicles and buses wider than 2.20 and finally there was the NE series, intended for two-wheelers (motorcycles, scooters) and three-wheeled motorcycles with a dead weight of less than 400 kg. Each letter series consisted of 9999 numbers. When the ND series was full, they switched to NG in 1951. After the NA series for narrow commercial vehicles, NF followed in 1952. The NB series was succeeded by PB in 1954.
Why exactly the N?
The question is often asked why exactly the letter N started. Nowadays nothing more is known about this at the RDW (the former Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer, the body that issues the license plates from 1951). We found the most plausible explanation in the journal Beroepsvervoer of 17 April 1959, which shows that the (unknown) author had been well informed about the backgrounds. When the article appeared, the letter series AD for passenger cars had just started and the question was asked why the A had not been started right away. The answer was that in 1951 several series of letters had already been reserved for cars of special target groups. For example, AA was intended for vehicles of the Royal House, the letter C (in combination with D) was for the Diplomatic Corps, FH was used for cars that belonged to a trade or factory stock. The G also did not qualify because GN was reserved for cars owned by non-residents. As an aside: Prince Claus was surprised during his integration in the Netherlands that he was given a GN number plate (No Dutchman) for his car. The letter I was too reminiscent of the number 1, just as the O resembles the number zero. K, L and M were reserved for military vehicles. The letters N were still completely 'clean' and moreover clearly legible from a distance. So a nice letter to start with.
Recycling
Another question that is sometimes asked is whether the RDW realized in 1951 that the fleet would grow to such an extent that one would ever run out of letters. There was probably some awareness of this, but the license plates were also reissued between 1951 and 1956 after they had expired, after a vehicle was withdrawn from road traffic and was scrapped. These expired numbers were 'mixed' with new numbers and thus ended up on another vehicle after administrative recycling. As a result, it was not always possible to determine the age of a car on the basis of the license plate, especially in the early days. In addition, all cars that still had old provincial numbers had to exchange them for a new license plate no later than December 31, 1956. As a result, many old cars with a (for that time) new license plate were put on the road. After 1956, there were more and more requests for registration numbers and it probably became too cumbersome for the RDW to recycle old numbers.
First license plate numbers
The first registration number for a passenger car, ND-00-01, was awarded to the Ford Taunus 10M 1950 owned by Mr JKLeyen, director of the Association of Safe Traffic Associations. Registration number ND-00-02 ended up on the Vauxhall 1950 of Mr O. Euverman in Groningen. The first number in the NB series (NB-00-01) was awarded to a 1947 Ford bus (a so-called school bus) of the De Kock bus company from Halsteren. We do not know who received the number NA-00-01. We also do not know the first motorcycle number. Who visits the website of the RDW can still find the third motorcycle, the NE-00-03, a Norton Dominator from 1950.
The first number plates were made according to a prescribed format and colour. They were elongated or square and the color was the so-called Prussian Blue. From 1951 to 1957 the registration certificates part 1 and part II were made on linen, after 1957 it became paper. Company cars had a gray linen registration certificate; in passenger cars (and we assume also motorcycles) this was yellow in color.
It is also generally known that letter series that are sensitive to the Second World War (such as SA and SD) were not used. Finally, some notable milestones in the current license plate system:
Developments in the system
By spring 1959, the Z letter series for passenger cars was completely used (ending with ZX-99-99) and was numbered sequentially with AD-00-01 (a Fiat 500 Nuova). In October 1962 the J series was full and the M was continued, which they did not want to use at first. There followed as usual: MD, MG, MK, MP, MT, MX. After that, letters that were previously reserved for commercial vehicles and motorcycles, such as the A and the E, were used as the 'second letter'. From 1965 the letters came after the numbers for passenger cars (from 00-01-AD) and from 1973 it became: numbers, letters, numbers. On October 3, 1991 the first license plate with letters, letters, numbers (DB-BB-01) appeared. This license plate was presented by Minister May-Weggen to Mayor Apotheker of Veendam (where the Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer was/is located) who had just bought a new car. Yellow reflective number plates were allowed from November 1975 and are issued to all new cars since January 1, 1978, except for classic or semi-classic cars that have a so-called classic number plate. These are the license plates with letter series such as DE, DH, DL, DM, DR, AE, AH, AL, AM and BE (the latter series is intended for classic commercial vehicles). For those license plate numbers, plates in the old 'Prussian Blue' may be used.
Today we see new commercial vehicles with license plates with three instead of two letters in the middle. Trailers and semi-trailers now have their own registration numbers. Despite all the changes and temporary hypes that have disappeared (Vehicle Registration Certificate part 3!) the old vehicle-related number plate system from 1951 is still in use. This means that vehicles that have survived the test of time can still drive around with their historic registration number, while the linen registration certificate has also remained as a legal document.