A practical primer on the geography, sequences, colours and symbols you'll encounter across Europe.
Some systems wear their origins openly. A German B means Berlin, a Swiss ZH means Zürich, and older Spanish plates began with a province. France and Italy moved to national sequences: any local identity now sits outside the serial or is optional.
Most marks advance through controlled combinations, but countries structure the pool differently. Britain puts the registration period in plain sight; the Netherlands changes its arrangement in successive “sidecodes”; France works through a single lifelong vehicle sequence.
A different background is rarely decorative. Pink now identifies French temporary WW registrations; green often marks trade or diplomatic use; yellow may distinguish a country's normal plates, a rear plate, or a taxi. Always read colour in its national context.