Aerial roof markings are symbols, letters, or numbers on the top of fleet vehicles to allow aircraft or closed-circuit television cameras to identify them from overhead. The purpose of these marking vary, but are generally used to identify a specific vehicle, vehicle type, operator, assignment, or role. The markings are commonly placed on the roof of the vehicle, but can also be placed on the hood, trunk, or other parts of the vehicle visible from above. They are commonly found on emergency vehicles such as police vehicles, fire engines, ambulances, and coast guard vehicles, but also cash-in-transit vans, buses, and boats.
Australia Different state police forces in Australia use different aerial roof markings to designate specific vehicles, duty types and areas.
New South Wales Police Force
Local Area Commands vehicle bonnet/roof codes
AB Albury AS Ashfield BA Barwon BB Botany Bay BK Bankstown BL Blue Mountains BN Blacktown BR Barrier BU Burwood BW Brisbane Water CA Campsie CB Canobolas CBL Coleambally CC Coffs/Clarence CEH Central Hunter CF Chifley CM Cabramatta CN Camden CS Castlereagh CT Campbelltown CU Cootamundra DL Darling River DP Darlington Point DQ Deniliquin EB Eastern Beaches ES Eastern Suburbs EW Eastwood FA Fairfield FL Flemington FS Far South Coast GF Griffith GL Gladesville GN Goulburn GV Green Valley HB Hawkesbury HI The Hills HR Holroyd HS Harbourside HU Hurstville HV Hunter Valley JN Junee K Kempsey KU Ku-Ring-Gai KX Kings Cross LE Leichhardt LI Lake Illawarra LL Lachlan LM Lake Macquarie LP Liverpool MD Mount Druitt ME Mudgee MF Macquarie Fields MG Manning/Great Lakes MI Miranda ML Manly MN Monaro MNC Mid North Coast MR Marrickville NEP Nepean NB Northern Beaches NTH Northern Highway Patrol NCC Newcastle City ND New England NS North Shore NT Newtown NTH North OR Orana OX Oxley PA Parramatta PTS Port Stephens QH Quakers Hill RB Rose Bay RF Redfern RH Rosehill RM Richmond RY Ryde SC Sydney City SG St George SH Surry Hills SU Sutherland SV Shoalhaven TB Tweed/Byron TF Tenterfield TL Tuggerah Lakes WG Wollongong WW Wagga Wagga
Fire appliances in New South Wales
Fire and Rescue NSW fit aerial identification markings to appliances that are indicative of the vehicles call sign. Example: "RP001" indicates the appliance is the Rescue Pumper belonging to station 001, the City of Sydney, while HH077 indicates the Heavy Hazmat support truck from St Marys fire station.
Fire and Rescue NSW aerial roof ID codes
AP Aerial Pump CT Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) Tanker DC Duty Commander FIRU Fire Investigations & Research Unit H (HH) Hazmat (Heavy Hazmat) HH Heavy Hazmat HP Hazmat Pumper HT Hazmat Tanker ICV Incident Control Vehicle LP Ladder Platform LSV Logistical Support Vehicle P Pumper R (HR) Rescue (Heavy Rescue) RP Rescue Pumper RT Rescue Tanker SEV Service Exchange Vehicle (spare) USAR Urban Search and Rescue
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service fits aerial identification numbers to rural fire appliances with the format consisting of the letter "B" (for Bush Fire) and the last 4 digits of the vehicles RTA approved operations plate. Example: "BF-07967" allocates an aerial ID of "7967". These markings do not denote a vehicles callsign.
The South Australian Country Fire Service have an infrared beacon on the roof of most new appliances and the vehicle call sign. As all trucks are named and numbered according to their location, capacity and capability (e.g. Hynam 34, Location: Hynam, 3000L, 4WD or Belair 34P, Location Belair, 3000L, 4WD, Pumper), their call sign is also placed on the roof of the cab in a red text on white roof fashion. Older State Emergency Service vehicles, primarily in country areas, may have their call sign on the roof as well.
United Kingdom
Police vehicles
Police vehicles in the United Kingdom have markings of symbols, letters and numbers on their tops to enable aircraft to identify them. These markings show the use of the vehicle, its force code and a vehicle identifying mark or the police division to which the vehicle belongs.
Not every vehicle displays markings, but those involved in response and traffic generally do. This factor stems from guidelines of the Association of Chief Police Officers relating to police air operations and pursuit management.
Vehicle usage markings
Armed response vehicle (ARV) used by armed police from various police units – 5 point asterisk * General (incident response vehicle or area car)/Traffic – circle ● Dog support unit (DSU) – triangle ▲ Public order (PO) personnel carrier – square ◼ Police medics. Some policing vehicles like ARVs and IRVs may have major first aid and fire equipment installed with trained officers aboard – green cross +
On a typical vehicle roof layout, the vehicle usage marking is preceded by an integer PNC Force Identifier; the individual (and within each organisation, unique) Vehicle Identifier, commonly alphanumeric, should occupy a second line all by itself.
Unique PNC force code The Police National Computer (PNC) is used by UK police forces and other government agencies to store and retrieve data about people, vehicles, plant and government locations. Regarding roof markings, their inscription helps identifying the regional or institutional affiliation of each vehicle. PNC force codes are also used when custody records are created, when items are submitted to places such as the Forensic Science Service laboratory, when evidence is stored, or when documents are to be passed from one force to another. They also form the first two digits of any certificate issued under the Firearms Act since the introduction of the National Firearms Licensing Management System. For example, a licence issued by the Metropolitan Police will start with '02'.
PNC Code Force 01 Metropolitan Police 02 Metropolitan Police 03 Cumbria Constabulary 04 Lancashire Constabulary 05 Merseyside Police 06 Greater Manchester Police 07 Cheshire Constabulary 08 Criminal Cases Review Commission 09 Post Office Security 10 Northumbria Police 11 Durham Constabulary 12 North Yorkshire Police 13 West Yorkshire Police 14 South Yorkshire Police 15 Royal Military Police and RAF Police 16 Humberside Police 17 Cleveland Police 18 Department of Trade and Industry 19 X400 Interface Broadcasts 20 West Midlands Police 21 Staffordshire Police 22 West Mercia Police 23 Warwickshire Police 24 Ministry of Defence Police 25 PNC Hendon 26 PNC Horseferry (Testing) 27 PNC Testing 28 PNC Restart terminals 1 29 PNC Restart terminals 2 30 Derbyshire Constabulary 31 Nottinghamshire Police 32 Lincolnshire Police 33 Leicestershire Constabulary 34 Northamptonshire Police 35 Cambridgeshire Constabulary 36 Norfolk Constabulary 37 Suffolk Constabulary 39 NPT (formerly CTS) 40 Bedfordshire Police 41 Hertfordshire Constabulary 42 Essex Police 43 Thames Valley Police 44 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary 45 Surrey Police 46 Kent Police 47 Sussex Police 48 City of London Police 49 Kent Ports Police 50 Devon & Cornwall Police
PNC Code Government department 51 Force 51 (out of use) 52 Avon & Somerset Constabulary 53 Gloucestershire Constabulary 54 Wiltshire Police 55 Dorset Police 56 Guernsey Police 57 States of Jersey Police 58 Port of Dover Police 59 Civil Nuclear Constabulary 60 North Wales Police 61 Gwent Police 62 South Wales Police 63 Dyfed-Powys Police 64 National Ports Office 65 National Joint Unit 66 Nuclear Information Service 67 National Crime Agency (formerly NCIS) 68 Government Communications Headquarters 69 Home Office Immigration Enforcement 70 Police Scotland (formerly Dumfries & Galloway Police) 71 Royal Navy NIS Liaison 72 Royal Air Force 73 Army NIS Liaison 74 Police Scotland (formerly Strathclyde Police) 75 HSE Nuclear Directorate 76 Police Scotland (formerly Lothian & Borders Police) 77 Department for Work and Pensions 78 Police Scotland (formerly Fife Constabulary) 79 Bramshill Police College 80 Police Scotland (formerly Tayside Police) 81 Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Security 82 Police Scotland (formerly Grampian Police) 83 Police Scotland (formerly Scottish Police College) 84 Police Scotland (formerly Central Scotland Police) 85 Inland Revenue 86 His Majesty's Prison Service 87 Police Scotland (formerly Northern Constabulary) 88 HM Customs and Excise 89 Department of the Environment 90 Police Scotland (formerly Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency) 91 National Crime Agency (formerly National Crime Squad) 92 National Automated Fingerprint Identification System 93 British Transport Police 94 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 95 Criminal Records Bureau 96 Police Scotland (formerly SPSA) 97 Isle of Man Constabulary 98 Police Service of Northern Ireland 99 Criminal Records Bureau 100 Departmental Security Units
Thermal roof markings
In 2004, the UK Home Office, under direction from the Technical and Training Committee of ACPO Air Operations were tasked with improving the recognition and identification of police vehicles amongst other traffic, particularly when operating at night. Colour images show the flashing blue lights but other details are lost, and a thermal camera image would show the vehicles and surroundings, but the livery and roofbar lighting could not be seen. The preferred solution was to make the police vehicle distinguishable when viewed with a thermal camera.
Working with Qinetiq, they developed a thermally reflective marking film and issued the publication "Thermal Roof Markings for Police Vehicles 43/04". These markings reflect infrared light back to the thermal imager, resulting in a contrast between the cold reflection and the ground or vehicle temperature. Being passive in nature, they require no activity on the part of the air observer or vehicle crew, nor any power from the vehicle.
Public buses
From 2006 onwards, single and double-decker buses operating London Buses services began having their roofs painted in heat-reflective white as part of a scheme to cool down their interiors in hot summer weather. This would eventually coincide with the introduction of roof markings, as shown in the image opposite. The first three letters denote the operator (GAG is Go-Ahead Group) and the remaining letters and numbers are the fleet number (SEe200), which also appears on the front and rear of the vehicle.
From 2023, lozenge-shaped stickers denoting the type of fuel the bus runs on (grey for diesel and 'smart' or 'mild hybrids', orange for electric, blue for hydrogen), placed on the roof below the fleet number of the bus, were rolled out onto every London bus by Transport for London contracted bus operators for ease of identification by the emergency services.
Operator codes include: ARL, Arriva London GAG, Go-Ahead Group MTG, Metroline ABL, Transport UK (formerly known as Abellio) SCG, Stagecoach Group LUB, First Bus London (formerly known as RATP Dev Transit London)
Germany
Fire vehicles
In Germany, DIN 14035, "Dachkennzeichen für Feuerwehrfahrzeuge" (Roof Marking of Fire Engines), issued in November 1981,Wichtige Normen für den Brandschutz . Retrieved on 2011-03-14 defines that fire engines should carry their registration plate number; these include the one-to-three letter abbreviation code of the corresponding Landkreis, thus making regional origin self-evident. The inscription is recommended to be at least 40 cm in size; the font color should, in terms of roof painting, be "white on red", or "black on white and aluminium/metallic".FTZ Gifhorn: Dachkennzeichnung für Feuerwehrfahrzeuge . Retrieved on 2011-03-14