Vehicle registration plates of Brazil
Encyclopedia
Brazil
ian vehicle number plates are issued by the states. Each state has a Departamento de Trânsito (DETRAN) that is charged with vehicle registration and car tax collection, but plates are standardized across the country and form a national vehicle registration database.
The current system was created in 1990 and was named Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores (RENAVAM). It uses the form "LLL·NNNN", where LLL is a three-letter combination followed by a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle stays with it "for life" - it cannot be changed or transferred to another vehicle. Vanity plates are allowed as long as they abide to the same standard as non-vanity plates.
Above the combination is a metallic band with the State abbreviation (SP = São Paulo
, RJ = Rio de Janeiro
, PR = Paraná
, AM = Amazonas etc.) and the name of the municipality in which the vehicle is currently registered. This band has to be changed when a vehicle needs to be registered in a different municipality.
Rear number plates are bound to the vehicle by a plastic seal. Broken seals invalidate the number plate, which has to be re-sealed by the authorities. Seals need to be broken in order to change State/Municipality tags.
The size of the Brazilian license plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standardization also determines a unique typeface
: Mandatory. Plates in Japanese or European size can no longer be used as of January 1, 2008.
Brazilian license plates use colour schemes to show their type, and front and rear plates use the same colours:
The letters on the license plate can describe the state where a vehicle was originally registered. Vehicles relocated from one state to another will show the new state/municipality on the replaceable tag, but it is always possible to determine the place of original registration for a used vehicle by observing the license plate range for each Brazilian State:
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian vehicle number plates are issued by the states. Each state has a Departamento de Trânsito (DETRAN) that is charged with vehicle registration and car tax collection, but plates are standardized across the country and form a national vehicle registration database.
The current system was created in 1990 and was named Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores (RENAVAM). It uses the form "LLL·NNNN", where LLL is a three-letter combination followed by a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle stays with it "for life" - it cannot be changed or transferred to another vehicle. Vanity plates are allowed as long as they abide to the same standard as non-vanity plates.
Above the combination is a metallic band with the State abbreviation (SP = São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, RJ = Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, PR = Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
, AM = Amazonas etc.) and the name of the municipality in which the vehicle is currently registered. This band has to be changed when a vehicle needs to be registered in a different municipality.
Rear number plates are bound to the vehicle by a plastic seal. Broken seals invalidate the number plate, which has to be re-sealed by the authorities. Seals need to be broken in order to change State/Municipality tags.
The size of the Brazilian license plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standardization also determines a unique typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
: Mandatory. Plates in Japanese or European size can no longer be used as of January 1, 2008.
Brazilian license plates use colour schemes to show their type, and front and rear plates use the same colours:
- black on grey: privately-owned vehicleVehicleA vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s - white on red: any kind of paid transportation (busBusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, taxiTaxicabA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s etc.) - red on white: driving schoolDriving schoolDriving school may refer to:* A school that teaches driving training and road safety; see driver's education* Driving School, a 1997 docusoap which was broadcast on BBC One...
(autoescola in PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - black on white: official use (government-owned cars: police departments, fire departmentFire departmentA fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
s, federal, state or city public services) - gray on black: collector's items (vehicles older than 30 years in excellent state of conservation and in original state - with more than 80% of its original components).
- white on green: manufacturer plates for vehicles under testing, dealer-testing, or in some cases test-drive (in most cases test-drive cars are registered to the dealership and thus use black on grey plates; privately-owned cars being tested after repairs usually carry dealer-fitted green plates over their black on grey plates)
- white on blue: diplomatic use (in this case in the format CD 1234 or CC 1234) or newer licenses like EMB 1234)
The letters on the license plate can describe the state where a vehicle was originally registered. Vehicles relocated from one state to another will show the new state/municipality on the replaceable tag, but it is always possible to determine the place of original registration for a used vehicle by observing the license plate range for each Brazilian State:
| Alphanumeric combination | State |
| AAA 0001 to BEZ 9999 |  Paraná (state) (PR) |
| BFA 0001 to GKI 9999 |  São Paulo (state) (SP) |
| GKJ 0001 to HOK 9999 |  Minas Gerais (MG) |
| HOL 0001 to HQE 9999 NHA 0001 to NHT 9999 NMP 0001 to NNI 9999 NWS 0001 to NXT 9999 |
 Maranhão (MA) |
| HQF 0001 to HTW 9999 NRF 0001 to NSD 9999 |
 Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) |
| HTX 0001 to HZA 9999 NQL 0001 to NRE 9999 NUM 0001 to NVF 9999 OCA 0001 to OCT 9999 |
 Ceará (CE) |
| HZB 0001 to IAP 9999 NVG 0001 to NVN 9999 |
 Sergipe (SE) |
| IAQ 0001 to JDO 9999 |  Rio Grande do Sul (RS) |
| JDP 0001 to JKR 9999 | (DF) |
| JKS 0001 to JSZ 9999 NTD 0001 to NTW 9999 NYH 0001 to NZZ 9999 |
 Bahia (BA) |
| JTA 0001 to JWE 9999 NSE 0001 to NTC 9999 |
 Pará (PA) |
| JWF 0001 to JXY 9999 NOI 0001 to NPB 9999 OAA 0001 to OAO 9999 |
 Amazonas (state, Brazil) (AM) |
| JXZ 0001 to KAU 9999 NIY 0001 to NJW 9999 NPC 0001 to NPQ 9999 NTX 0001 to NUL 9999 OAP 0001 to OBD 9999 |
 Mato Grosso (MT) |
| KAV 0001 to KFC 9999 NFC 0001 to NGZ 9999 NJX 0001 to NLU 9999 NVO 0001 to NWR 9999 |
 Goiás (GO) |
| KFD 0001 to KME 9999 NXU 0001 to NXW 9999 PEE 0001 to PFQ 9999 |
 Pernambuco (PE) |
| KMF 0001 to LVE 9999 |  Rio de Janeiro (state) (RJ) |
| LVF 0001 to LWQ 9999 NHU 0001 to NIX 9999 |
 Piauí (PI) |
| LWR 0001 to MMM 9999 |  Santa Catarina (state) (SC) |
| MMN 0001 to MOW 9999 NPR 0001 to NQK 9999 |
 Paraíba (PB) |
| MOX 0001 to MTZ 9999 OCV 0001 to ODT 9999 |
 Espírito Santo (ES) |
| MUA 0001 to MVK 9999 NLV 0001 to NMO 9999 |
 Alagoas (AL) |
| MVL 0001 to MXG 9999 |  Tocantins (TO) |
| MXH 0001 to MZM 9999 NNJ 0001 to NOH 9999 |
 Rio Grande do Norte (RN) |
| MZN 0001 to NAG 9999 |  Acre (state) (AC) |
| NAH 0001 to NBA 9999 NXX 0001 to NYG 9999 |
 Roraima (RR) |
| NBB 0001 to NEH 9999 |  Rondônia (RO) |
| NEI 0001 to NFB 9999 |  Amapá (AP) |