Italy

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	pre-1963 metal plates
	1936-1944 diplomatic plate. During this time diplomats received normal Rome plates, but with a leading zero in the serial number.
	1945-1948 international organization plate. CITES = Circolazione Temporanea Enti Stranieri (temporary registration for foreign bodies).
	1948-1951 rear car plate. TO = Torino.
	1951-1963 car plate pair. UD = Udine. The front plate is made of aluminum, the rear plate of steel. Before 1985, the provincial code preceded the number on rear plates, but followed it on front plates.
	1951-1963 motorcycle plates.   AL = Alessandria.   AO = Aosta. Aosta plates had the provincial shield on them.
	pre-1963 army front car plate. E.I. = Esercito Italiano.
	1950s State Forestry Corps car and motorcycle plates. C.F.S. = Corpo forestale dello Stato. On official vehicle plates, the letters were preceding the numbers also on front plates.
	Agricultural motor plate. RA = Ravenna. These plates were issued to an engine, not a vehicle. These could be stationary machines, but also tractors usually had such a plate mounted on the front, because of their agricultural motor inside.
	Hand cart plate (left) and animal drawn agricultural cart plate (right) from Sermide municipality in Mantova province.

	1963-1985 plastic plates
	1963-1976 normal series pair. MO = Modena. Before 1985, the provincial code preceded the number on rear plates, but followed it on front plates.
	1963-1976 temporary tourist front and rear plates. EE = escursionisti estri (foreign tourists).
	1976-1985 normal series pair. BA = Bari. You can notice two details: Before 1985, the provincial code preceded the number on rear plates, but followed it on front plates. And from 1976 on, when the orange province code was introduced, the rear plate came in two parts. That way, the same number part could be used either below a long province code part to make a two line plate, or to the right of a short province code part to make a one line plate. To prevent people from exchanging the province code, the two letters are repeated in small size on the number part.
	1976-1985 provincial code plate from Aosta. In the French speaking province of Aosta, the provincial shield has been on all license plates since 1947. Until 1976, it was placed between the province code and the numerals. From 1976 on, it preceded the province code.
	1976-1985 temporary tourist rear plate. EE = escursionisti estri (foreign tourists). EE rear plates were not in two parts, but the code letters were vertically aligned on the number part, which was possible because there were only five digit serial numbers. The same was done with the letters CD on diplomatic plates.
	Provisional cardboard plate. C1 = Bozen (South Tirol). There is an official stamp on the plate.
	1963-1985 motorcycle plate. BO = Bologna.
	1963-1985 agricultural tractor plate. PV = Pavia.
	1963-1985 trailer plates. VI = Vicenza, PI = Pisa. The small plates were assigned to the trailer itself and mounted on the right side of the trailer. On the rear, there was a repeater plate of the towing vehicle's number with a small R between the province code and the serial number.

	1985 onwards metal plates
	1985-1994 normal series pair. BZ = Bozen. In this series, the colors were reversed to allow for reflective plates, and the material changed from plastic to metal. The front plate became bigger, and the number format changed to the province code preceding the number, getting in line with the rear plate. The rear plate came in two parts to allow for the formation of a one line or two line plate. Here, both versions are shown.
	1985-1994 normal series front and rear plates from Rome (ROMA). Rome plates always had the city name spelled out in full. But note that the small letters on the number part of the rear plate use the abbreviation RM.
	1985-1994 trailer repeater plate. RO = Rovigo. These plates are displayed on trailers in addition to the small trailer plates and show the towing vehicle's number. The district code and the red R are embossed, the serial number is made of stickers.
	1985-1994 motorcycle plate. VA = Varese.
	1985 onwards series temporary plate. EE = escursionisti estri (foreign tourists). Front and rear plates are identical. At the top center are two decals showing the month and year of expiry.
	1985-1995 series diplomatic plate. CD = diplomatic corps, AU = Germany. Front and rear plates are identical.
	1985-1994 road machinery plate. PS = Pesaro.

	1994 onwards national series plates
	1994-1998 normal series pair. No regional coding anymore. Rear plates were in one piece, one line rear plates started with A as first letter, then moved on to B and C.
	1994-1998 normal series rear plate. No regional coding anymore. Rear plates were in one piece, two line rear plates had Z as the first letter.
	1999 onwards normal series pair, the previous series being continued on new Euro style plates. Because people did not like the omission of the regional code, a blue band was added on the right showing the province in small letters below the year of first registration of the vehicle. BZ = Bozen (South Tirol). The provinces with ethnic minorities (AO-Aosta, French; BZ-Bozen, Austrian; TN-Trento, Ladin) additionally have their shields above the code. Before 1999, only Aosta plates had shields.
	1999 onwards motorcyle plate. The province abbreviation and first year of registration on the right blue band are optional, and were omitted on this plate.
	1994-2013 trailer and trailer repeater plates. Both plates together were displayed on the rear of the trailer. The white plate shows the registration of the trailer and stays on it permanently, while the yellow plate duplicates the registration of the towing vehicle. From 2013, trailers receive normal series plates starting with the letter X, and no repeater plate is used with it.
	1994 onwards agricultural tractor plate.
	Moped plates. These use any combination of five or six letters and numerals. Prior to 1993, mopeds were unregistered. In 1993 all mopeds received the smaller plate type on the left, and in 2006 the bigger type on the right was introduced for two seat mopeds.

See also from the Military Forces Abroad page:

	Allied Forces in Italy
	1956 to 1968 series private vehicle plate, AFSE = Allied Forces in Southern Europe.
	1956 to 1968 series plates for official vehicles. The two top plates are in older style, the bottom plate uses the dies that were introduced in the District of Columbia in 1966. It was used on a vehicle based in Livorno.
	1968 onwards private car plates, U = Udine customs district. The first vehicle of a force member is tax free and has white plates.
	1968 onwards private car and motorcycle plates, H = Cagliari, N = Napoli customs district. Additional vehicles are subject to Italian taxes and receive black plates with the number 2 before the base code letter. Motorcycle plates are smaller and have an M suffix.

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