Maltese registration plates are the number plates used within Malta to uniquely identify motor vehicles. Since 1995, the three letter, three number system has been in use in Malta for vehicle registration. The characters are always printed in black on a white background, and to the left one can find a blue box with the Flag of Europe and the letter M underneath it in white. The typeface used on Maltese registration plates is FE-Schrift which is also the typeface used on German vehicle registration plates.
All privately owned vehicles are allocated randomly chosen marks, except that the first letter shows in which month the vehicle's annual tax disc is due for renewal. The following is a table of letters by month:
Month
January
A
M
Y
February
B
N
Z
March
C
O
April
D
P
May
E
Q
June
F
R
July
G
S
August
H
T
September
I
U
October
J
V
November
K
W
December
L
X
These plates may be also personalised in two ways: Either in the XXX999 format Or any combination from one to ten characters and/or numbers which would cost €1500.
History
1800s
A calesse, a type of horse carriage, had to be registered at the Castellania by the 19th century and use registration plates with black and white colours. Motor vehicles were introduced in Malta around World War I in 1914. These were considered commodities and only the few people could purchase. The main people who owned the first cars were the British and the then higher class of Maltese. By 1919 most Brits started to sell their used cars to Maltese with an affordable price but were mainly used as taxis and for work-related needs such as the transport of goods.
1952 - 1979
From 1952 to 1979, all number-plates in Malta used the format 99999. Until 1959, plates with red circle permitted to drive inValletta. Unlike the post-1979 system, they have 7 characters. Special plates:
Rental cars: Had a yellow background.
Taxis/buses/coaches: all started with a TAXI and had a red background. While numbers all already used,then TAXI followed by a letter and two numbers.
Privately owned cars, scooters and motorbikes: Numbers only and had a black background.
Diplomatic and tax exempt cars: all started with a CD and had a black background.
1979 - 1995
From 1979 to 1995, all number-plates in Malta used the format Z-9999. Towards the right there was the letter M in a circle. Although all characters were printed in black, the background colour varied according to the vehicle's use:
Rental cars: all started with an X and had a yellow background.
Taxis/buses/minibuses/coaches: all started with a Y and had a red background.
Privately owned cars: characters were randomly chosen had a white background.
Diplomatic and tax exempt cars: all started with a Z and had a white background.
Privately owned Scooters and Motorbikes: all started with a P or Q and had a white background. Unlike the current system, these had licence plates attached to both the front and rear.
