Switzerland

Pictures are to scale: 1 cm is approximately 10 pixels.
If you have any corrections, additions or remarks to any of the plates or their descriptions, please e-mail me.

Aargau

1987 onwards plate pair. Before 1973, both front and rear plates were in the usual European dimensions. Rear plates were either one line with the shields on both ends of the plate, or two lines with the shields and the canton code in large letters above the serial number. Front plates had characters in the same size, but no shields. In 1973, rear plates became American size, with the shields and the canton code in smaller letters above the serial. Front plates were only half the height with the whole number in smaller size. In 1987, one line rear plates became optionally available, with the canton code as big as the numbers. Front plates stayed in the small size.

Appenzell Innerrhoden
	Temporary plate pair for 1986. Z suffix = duties not paid. These are unused plates, which were left over at the end of 1986. Had they been issued, they would have received a sticker showing the month of expiration in the red field above "86".

Appenzell Ausserrhoden
	Temporary rear plate for 1986. Used plate with month sticker.

Bern
	Temporary rear plate expiring March 2003. Z suffix = duties not paid. Newer temporary plates do not have the year embossed anymore, but use a combined month/year sticker.

Basel Land
	1987 onwards rear plate.

Basel Stadt
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Fribourg
	1987 onwards rear plate.

Genève
	Temporary rear plate expiring May 2002.

Glarus
	Temporary rear plate expiring March 2003.

Graubünden
	1987 onwards rear plate.

Jura
	Temporary plate pair for 1986. Z suffix = duties not paid. Unused plates without month sticker.

Luzern
	1987 onwards rear plate.

Neuchâtel
	Temporary rear plate expiring November 1995.

Nidwalden
	Temporary rear plate for 1983. Used plate with month sticker. While permanent rear plates were American size from 1973 on, temporary plates were sometimes still in the long European format.

Obwalden
	Temporary rear plate for 1984. Z suffix = duties not paid. Unused plate without month sticker. While permanent rear plates were American size from 1973 on, temporary plates were sometimes still in the long European format.

St. Gallen
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Schaffhausen
	1987 onwards rear plate.

Solothurn
	Temporary rear plate for 1982. Used plate with month sticker. While permanent rear plates were American size from 1973 on, temporary plates were sometimes still in the long European format.

Schwyz
	Temporary rear plate expiring August 2001.

Thurgau
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Ticino
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Uri
	Temporary rear plate for 1978. Z suffix = duties not paid. The plate has no month sticker, but appears to be used.

Vaud
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Valais
	1973 onwards rear plate.

Zug
	Pre-1973 rear plate.

Zürich
	1973 onwards plate pair.

Federal Series
	1973 onwards rear plate, P = Public Authorities (postal, railways).
	1973 onwards rear plate, M = Military.

Special type plates
	1973 onwards fire brigade or road maintenance vehicle rear plate
	1973 onwards abnormal load vehicle front plate.

Motorcycle plates
	Left picture: Genève motorcycle plate. Right picture: Ticino temporary small motorcycle plate for 1991. Yellow color indicates a small motorcycle.

Moped plates

Moped plates from various cantons. Until about 1980, these plates were as small as bicycle plates, but colored yellow. The canton code and the year were shown in varying colors above a minute serial number stamped onto the bottom of the plate. About 1980 it was felt that also moving mopeds should be identifyable, so canton after canton adopted a larger plate format, showing the serial number in an easily legible size. In the later 1980s, many if not all cantons started to use year stickers instead of issuing new plates anually.

Bicycle plates
	Complete set of bicycle plates from each canton. These plates are from the late 1970s and early 1980s. At that time they were issued annually. The canton code and the year were shown in varying colors above a minute serial number stamped onto the bottom of the plate. At bottom right is an additional plate from SG made in a different style: All characters are debossed and also the bottom part is red.
	Left picture: Bicycle plate for 1991. 502 is a code for the insurance company, below which is 01 for Zürich and a six digit serial number. Right picture: Military bicycle plate.