Vehicle registration plates in Vietnam are mandatory license plates for motor vehicles used on public roads in Vietnam. License plates were first used when Vietnam was a French colony. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for the issuance and numbering of vehicles.

History

French protectorate In French Indochina, license plates were white-on-black on XXX1111 type, XXX is location code. 1111 can be anything (serial numbers).

1978–1984 Vietnamese plates in 1978–1984 were white-on-black and similar to previous one, but had 4 digits then 3 letters. 3 letters are city name, but based on Vietnamese language.

1984–2003 From 1984 to 2003 (current version) is black-on-white, then later green-on-white, with city name. Plates were A 1111 format, then 1A 1111 format, then AA 1111 format, then was going to switch to AAA 111 format, but the plan was cancelled. The leading two symbols are two digits, representing the province/municipality. The exact date of format changing is unknown. In 2012, a blue strip with a "VN" will be added on the left-hand side of the plates, as required by new ASEAN licensing agreements, yet this rule has never been in force.

The leading two numerals refer to the various provinces and major municipalities of Vietnam, unless they are letters (AA, AB, AC, and so on) which signify that the car belongs to the Ministry of Defence – in which case the plate will be red. Some plates also carry a red two-letter code following the provincial numerals, with "NG" (for ngoại giao) used for a diplomatic or NGO plate and "LD" for a vehicle belonging to a company which is 100% foreign-owned. If a colored letter (A, B, or C) follows the province code, the vehicle belongs to the local government.

Colors

President's cars, Government's cars, law enforcement cars – White on blue Private vehicles – Black on white Commercial vehicle, construction vehicles – Black on yellow Military's cars – White on red Diplomat's cars – Black on white with red NG code Foreigner-owned cars – Black on white with black NN code

Formats For cars, front plates measure 47 × 11 cm, rear ones are 27 × 20. In 2020 and 2021, both plates measure 6 x 12. The current scheme for civilian vehicles omits the letters I, J, O, Q and W, with the letter R reserved for trailers, and includes the Vietnamese character Đ.

Regular plates

The format for regular plates began in 1984, with a modification made in 2010 to increase registration capacity. The system itself resembles an inverted FNI system of France. The registration format of the 2010 system is 12A-345.67, where 12 is the regional code, A is the serial letter, and 345.67 is the registration number. Regular plates have black lettering on white background.

Double-letter serials for special uses also exist for regular plates:

SerialUsed forDAForeign investment companiesHCVehicles allowed to work in limited time of day onlyKTCivilian-purposed vehicles of military enterpriseLAConstruction machinery (Note: This comes with a yellow background and follows 12AB-3456 format.)LDJoint ventures with foreign entities, and vehicles rented by foreignersMAThree-wheeled light transport vehiclesMĐTwo-wheeled vehicles with electric power sourceMKTractorsLarge-size equipment, e.g. combine harvesters, etc. (Note: This also comes with a yellow background.)TĐVietnam-made vehiclesMKTractorRMSemi-trailer and semi-trailer truck

Other formats

Commercial format After 1 August 2020, all commercial vehicles in Vietnam must change to a yellow color vehicle plate.

NNLN N N NNNLNNN.NN

NNL-N N N NNNL-NNN.NN

State-owned format Vehicles of state organizations receive plates with white lettering on blue backgrounds. The format is either NNL-NNN.NN or NNL-NNNN, where NN is the regional code, L is the serial, NNN.NN/NNNN is the number.

NNLN N N NNNLNNN.NN

NNL-N N N N NNL-NNN.NN

Motorcycles Motorcycles receive two-line plates of the NN-LL/NNN.NN (or equivalently NNLL-NNN.NN on registration certificate), which replaced the previous NN-LN/NNNN and NN-LN/NNN.NN format (which are still effective in circulation), with black lettering on white backgrounds.

NN-LNN N N NNN-LNNNN.NN NN-LLNNN.NNTwo-wheel vehicles registered before August 15, 2023, with electric power source use the NN-MĐN/NNN.NN format. NNN.NN

Diplomatic plates

Diplomatic plates have their status codes in red, and the numbers in black on a white background. Diplomatic personnel based in Hanoi receive the 80-123-NG-45 format, where the red NG stood for ngoại giao, or "diplomatic", 123 being the country/organization code (e.g. 636 for South Korea), and 45 the registration the number. 01 is reserved for the head of the diplomatic mission, while the rest are given numbers from 02 to 99. Diplomatic mission based outside Hanoi received standard region codes instead of the 80 reserved for Hanoi. For example, diplomatic vehicles based in Da Nang would have a 43-123-NG-45 plate. International organizations based in Hanoi receive the 80-123-QT-45 format, where 80 is the code signifying national importance (i.e. being stationed in Hanoi), the red QT for quốc tế or "International", 123 the country code, and 45 the number (01 for the head of the organization, 02-99 for other members). International organizations based outside Hanoi receive a slightly different format of 12-QT-345-67, where 12 is the regional code, 345 being the country code, and 67 the number.

Status code Meaning NG (ngoại giao) Diplomatic NN (nước ngoài) Foreigners without diplomatic status QT (quốc tế) International organizations

12-NN345.67 12-NN-345.67

Temporary plates Temporary plates are two-line plates with the TNN-NNN.NN format, where T signifies the temporary nature of the plate, NNN.NN being the regional code and NNN.NN being the number.

Military format Military vehicles bear red plates with white lettering in the format of AB-12-34, where AB is the unit code, and 12-34 being the number. Military motorcycles receive the two-line AB/123 format, where AB is the unit code, and 123 the number. Mopeds receive an additional letter A after the number.

Codes The provincial/municipal codes are listed here:

NumberProvince/municipality11Cao Bằng12Lạng Sơn14Quảng Ninh15, 16, 34Hải Phòng19, 28, 88Phú Thọ20, 97Thái Nguyên22, 23Tuyên Quang24, 21Lào Cai25Lai Châu26Sơn La27Điện Biên29–33, 40Hà Nội35, 18, 90Ninh BìnhNumberProvince/municipality36Thanh Hóa37Nghệ An38Hà Tĩnh39, 60, 93Đồng Nai41, 50–59, 61, 72Hồ Chí Minh City43, 92Đà Nẵng47, 78Đắk Lắk49, 48, 86Lâm Đồng64, 71, 84Vĩnh Long65, 83, 95Cần Thơ66, 63Đồng Tháp67, 68An GiangNumberProvince/municipality69, 94Cà Mau70, 62Tây Ninh74, 73Quảng Trị75Huế76, 82Quảng Ngãi79, 85Khánh Hòa80National Authorities (Government, CPV CC,...), President and Vietnam People's Public Security*81, 77Gia Lai89, 17Hưng Yên99, 98Bắc Ninh * Note 1: These agencies also use regularly licensed vehicles

Foreign Countries Codes

Country Code (Organization) County (Organization) 001-005 006-010 011-015 016-020 021-025 026-030 031-035 036-040 041-045 046-050 051-055 056-060 061-065 066-070 071-075 076-080 081-085 086-090 091-095 096-100 101-105 106-110 111-115 116-120 121-125 126-130 131-135 136-140 141-145 146-150 151-155 156-160 161-165 166-170 171-175 176-180 181-185 186-190 191-195 196-200 201-205 206-210 211-215 216-220 221-225 226-230 231-235 236-240 241-245 246-250 251-255 256-260 261-265 266-270 271-275 276-280 281-285 286-290 291-295 296-300, 771-775 301-305 306-310 311-315 316-320 321-325 326-330 331-335 336-340 341-345 346-350 351-355 356-360 361-365 366-370 371-375 376-380 381-385 386-390 391-395 396-400 401-405 406-410 411-415 416-420 421-425 426-430 431-435 436-440 441-445 446-450, 776-780 451-455 456-460 461-465 466-470 471-475 476-480 481-485 486-490 491-495 496-500 501-505 506-510 511-515 516-520 521-525 526-530 531-535 536-540 541-545 546-550 International Organizations 551-555 556-560 561-565 566-570 571-575 576-580 581-585 586-590 591-595 596-600 601-605 606-610 611-615 616-620 621-625 626-630 631-635 636-640 641-645 646-650 651-655 656-660 661-665 666-670 671-675 676-680 681-685 686-690 691-695 696-700 701-705 706-710 711-715 716-720 721-725 726-730 731-735 736-740 741-745 746-750 751-755 756-760 761-765 766-770 781-785 786-790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801-805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 885-890

References