European License Plate Font [2021] Site

| Country | Font | Notes | |---------|------|-------| | Germany | FE-Schrift (original) | Mandatory since 1994 | | Austria | FE-Schrift (slightly modified) | Differences in '1', '0' | | Spain | FE-Schrift variant | Very similar | | Portugal | FE-Schrift | Adopted ~2000 | | France | F4 or Caractères L | Not FE-Schrift; narrower, different '0' and '1' | | Italy | Italy Plate Font (custom) | Similar but not identical; '1' has base | | UK | Charles Wright 1935 | Very different – a traditional sans-serif | | Netherlands | Nederlands Vervoersschrift | Custom, but FE-Schrift used on newer EU plates | | Belgium | FE-Schrift (since 2010) | Fully adopted | | Switzerland | Federation (custom) | Not FE-Schrift |

In the early 20th century, European countries began to introduce license plates to identify vehicles. Each country developed its own font style, often reflecting local typography traditions. For example, Germany used a sans-serif font, while France opted for a more ornate, serif font. The United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, among others, also adopted distinct font styles, which varied in terms of letterforms, spacing, and overall design. european license plate font

FE-Schrift is a sans-serif, monospaced font designed in in the late 1970s and introduced for vehicle registration plates in 1994 . Its primary purpose is anti-forgery : characters are designed so that common modifications (e.g., turning a 'P' into an 'R', or a '3' into an '8') are visually obvious. | Country | Font | Notes | |---------|------|-------|