Northern Irish reg plates

josip

While out walking the dog, my son was asking me about car registration plates and the country letters.
He asked about Northern Ireland and what they had.
Which started me wondering, why do they have GB, when Great Britain specifically excludes Northern Ireland?
Shouldn't they have UK or NI?

Snotty

Ah jesus there's enough rioting going on, don't be telling them they shouldn't have GB on their licence plates too

Northern Monkey

I’m from NI and don’t have GB on mine and I’d say 99% of the population don’t either! Having GB displayed is only a requirement if you are in a country different to the country of registration but it doesn’t have to be on the border of the plate as far as I’m aware, it can be a sticker on the back of the car

Allinall

As far as I know in NI they have L plates, same as here.

However, up there, instead of N plates for “Novice”, they have GB for “Getting Better”.

CiniO

josip wrote: »

While out walking the dog, my son was asking me about car registration plates and the country letters.
He asked about Northern Ireland and what they had.
Which started me wondering, why do they have GB, when Great Britain specifically excludes Northern Ireland?
Shouldn't they have UK or NI?

1. Country marking on the left of number plate on blue strip is not required in UK. As far as I know it's allowed but not required like in most EU countries. That's why you only very seldom see UK (including NI) cars with number plate with blue strip on the left saying GB.

2. When car from UK is driven abroad, it should have a GB symbol displayed - whether it be on a number plate or as separate sticker makes no difference. It is GB symbol not UK or NI or anything similar, as it was agreed long time ago in International road traffic convention from Vienna 1968 and possibly even earlier conventions. Every country got assigned a symbol, and "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" got "GB". Like Ireland got IRL, Germany got D, Holland got NL, Russia got RUS, or Lichtenstein got FL, etc...

3. Requirement of displaying GB symbol on the back of UK registered car when driving abroad is very commonly broken, especially in Ireland where traffic of UK registered cars is probably the highest among EU.

fullstop

Allinall wrote: »

As far as I know in NI they have L plates, same as here.

However, up there, instead of N plates for “Novice”, they have GB for “Getting Better”.

I have never seen ‘GB plates’ in the way you’re talking about. Is this a new thing?! They have always used ‘R plates’ for new drivers, which means they are restricted (lower speed limit). The OP is referring to number plates.

colm_mcm

fullstop wrote: »

I have never seen ‘GB plates’ in the way you’re talking about. Is this a new thing?! They have always used ‘R plates’ for new drivers, which means they are restricted (lower speed limit). The OP is referring to number plates.

Came in with Brexit.

Cee-Jay-Cee

A NI Reg car with GB on the plate is most likely from England, they just happen to have an NI number plate (personalised or moved there and took the car with them)

CiniO

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

A NI Reg car with GB on the plate is most likely from England, they just happen to have an NI number plate (personalised or moved there and took the car with them)

Technically, every single NI registered car driven in Ireland, should display GB symbol on the back of the vehicle.
Otherwise they are breaking the law.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

A NI Reg car with GB on the plate is most likely from England, they just happen to have an NI number plate (personalised or moved there and took the car with them)

What's the difference between NI and English plates?

Charles Babbage

CiniO wrote: »

Technically, every single NI registered car driven in Ireland, should display GB symbol on the back of the vehicle.
Otherwise they are breaking the law.

Which law, exactly?

colm_mcm

Deleted User wrote: »

What's the difference between NI and English plates?

Different number/letter format. English car could have NI plate, especially if you want to hide the age of the car or get a personalised plate.

zilog_jones

Deleted User wrote: »

What's the difference between NI and English plates?

Currently NI plates are in the format ABC 1234, whereas GB are AB12 CDE. They both used different sequences at different points though.

Also: GB plates do not contain the letters I or Z - these are reserved for Ireland, including the pre-1987 plates used in the Republic (as the system pre-dated 1922). If you know any of the pre-'87 county codes they all contain an I or Z, and current NI codes still follow the same rule.

Wishbone Ash

Deleted User wrote: »

What's the difference between NI and English plates?

NI plates must always have an 'I' or 'Z' in the registration. English/Scot/Welsh plates do not have I or Z.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_3166_country_codes
International Standards Organisation country codes.
For whatever reason the UK chose GB rather than UK.
UK seems to be available but might be similar to Ukraine.

Other GBs might have been? Gaborone, Gambia?

ohnonotgmail

Deleted User wrote: »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_3166_country_codes
International Standards Organisation country codes.
For whatever reason the UK chose GB rather than UK.
UK seems to be available but might be similar to Ukraine.

Other GBs might have been? Gaborone, Gambia?

They are not ISO codes. they are international vehicle licence plate codes from the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. It is a coincidence that the ISO code for Great Britain is the same as the Vienna Convention code. for other countries, Ireland for instance, the ISO code and the Vienna Convention code are different. the ISO code for Ireland is IE but licence plates have IRL from the Vienna Convention.

colm_mcm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

They are not ISO codes. they are international vehicle licence plate codes from the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. It is a coincidence that the ISO code for Great Britain is the same as the Vienna Convention code. for other countries, Ireland for instance, the ISO code and the Vienna Convention code are different. the ISO code for Ireland is IE but licence plates have IRL from the Vienna Convention.

This means nothing to me.

ohnonotgmail

colm_mcm wrote: »

This means nothing to me.

these are the codes used on vehicle registration plates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_vehicle_registration_code

some match the ISO codes that the other posted mentioned but that is just coincidence.

Charles Babbage

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

NI plates must always have an 'I' or 'Z' in the registration. English/Scot/Welsh plates do not have I or Z.

Specifically the two letters starting the number which represent the region do not have an I or Z. The 3 letters at the end can, these sometimes somewhat resemble NI numbers e.g BLZ.

ohnonotgmail

colm_mcm wrote: »

This means nothing to me.

tphase wrote: »

Ure wit is wasted on boards....

i'm a bit slow this morning