Difference Between Legal and Novelty/Show Plate

Novelty / Show Plates

Show plates/ novelty plates can be made using any colour you want and spaced however you want as long as you are entitled to the number plate but should not be used on the road and is at your own risk. – novelty plates are plates used at car shows, to hang up at home using your name/ childs name eg Jonathon or slogan, company named plates and designs for indoor offices and decor.

What Makes A Plate Legal?

The British Standard sets out the characteristics of
the number plate. This includes visibility, strength and
reflectivity. To meet the British Standard, each number
plate must be permanently and legibly marked with the:
• British Standard number (currently BS AU 145d)
• name, trademark or other way of identifying the
manufacturer or supplier
• name and postcode of the supplying outlet.

The number plates on your vehicle must:

• be made from a reflective material
• display black characters on a white background (front plate)
• display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
• not have a background pattern
• Characters on a number plate can be 3D

The characters on a number plate need to be a certain height and size:
• characters must be 79mm tall
• characters (except the number 1 or letter I) must be
50mm wide
• the character stroke (the thickness of the black print)
must be 14mm
• the space between characters must be 11mm
• the space between the age identifier and the random
letters must be 33mm
• the margins at the top, bottom and side of the plate
must be 11mm
• vertical space between the age identifier and the
random letters must be 19mm.

Motorcycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle.

Quadricycles (including quad bikes) which are drivenon the road must display front and rear number plates. Providing they have a maximum net engine power of 15 kilowatts or less and an unladen weight of no more than 400 kilograms (or 550 kilograms if it’s a goods vehicle) they can also display number plates which meet the requirements shown below.
• characters must be 64mm tall
• characters (except the number 1 or letter I) must be
44mm wide
• the character stroke (the thickness of the black print)
must be 10mm
• the space between characters must be 10mm
• the space between the age identifier and the random
letters must be 30mm
• the margins at the top, bottom and side of the plate
must be at least 11mm
• vertical space between the age identifier and the
random numbers must be 13mm.