What do the letters on a license plate mean?
The letter symbols that appear on license plates have always aroused curiosity among many people.
In fact, these characters are all stipulated in Circular No. 15/2014/TT-BCA on vehicle registration issued by the Ministry of Public Security. This circular regulates the organization of registration and issuance of license plates for road motor vehicles.
License plates of government agencies
License plates with a blue background, white letters and numbers, and serial numbers using one of the following 20 letters in sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z are issued to vehicles of Party agencies; the Office of the President; the Office of the National Assembly and its agencies; the Office of the National Assembly Delegation, People's Councils at all levels; Central Steering Committees; the People's Police, People's Courts, People's Procuracies; ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies; the National Traffic Safety Committee; People's Committees at all levels and specialized agencies under the People's Committees at the provincial and district levels; political and social organizations; public service units, except for public driver training and testing centers; and project management boards with state management functions.
License plates with a blue background, white letters and numbers, and the symbol "CD" are issued to specialized motorcycles used by the People's Public Security Force for security purposes.
License plates with a white background and black letters and numbers, using one of the following 20 letters in sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z, are issued to vehicles of businesses, project management boards of businesses, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, non-public service units, public driver training and testing centers, and private vehicles.
Yellow license plates with red letters and numbers, bearing the local registration symbol and the two-letter abbreviation of the special economic and trade zone, are issued to vehicles in special economic and trade zones or international border economic zones as stipulated by the Government.
License plates with a white background, black numbers, and a red "NG" serial number are issued to vehicles of diplomatic missions, consular offices, and foreign personnel holding diplomatic identification cards from those agencies. Specifically, the license plates of Ambassadors and Consuls General have a registration number starting with 01, with a red line superimposed horizontally across the numbers indicating nationality and registration number.
White license plates with black numbers and a red "QT" serial number are issued to vehicles of international organizations' representative offices and foreign personnel holding diplomatic identification cards from those organizations. For the license plates of the heads of United Nations representative offices, an additional red line is superimposed horizontally across the numbers, indicating the international organization's vehicle designation and registration number.
The license plates have a white background with black letters and numbers, and the serial number "CV" is issued to vehicles of administrative and technical staff holding official identification cards from diplomatic missions, consular offices, and international organizations.
License plates with a white background, black letters and numbers, and the "NN" symbol are issued to vehicles of foreign organizations, representative offices, and individuals.
Some special cases:
License plates with the "KT" designation are issued to military vehicles used for economic purposes.
License plates with the "LD" designation are issued to vehicles of foreign-invested enterprises, vehicles leased from foreign companies, and vehicles of foreign companies that have won bids.
License plates with the "DA" designation are issued to vehicles of project management boards that invest in foreign-owned projects.
License plates with the symbol "R" are issued for trailers and semi-trailers.
License plates with the symbol "T" are issued to vehicles with temporary registration.
License plates with the "MK" designation are issued to tractors.
License plates with the "MD" designation are issued for electric motorcycles.
License plates with the "TĐ" designation are issued to motor vehicles manufactured and assembled domestically, and this pilot program is authorized by the Prime Minister.
License plates with the "HC" designation are issued to vehicles operating within restricted areas.
