Are tinted number plates legal?

It is common knowledge that the DVLA are extremely strict when it comes to rules for vehicles on the road, and this doesn’t stop at number plates. Currently, there are several regulations that have been put into place to ensure that all number plates are legible and comply by the UK standards, however, this doesn’t stop people from breaking the rules. 

One grey area in the matter of number plates is whether or not they are allowed to be tinted. The DVLA has not been as clear on these rules, but there are several other definitive rules that you must abide by when it comes to displaying your number plate. 

Number plate guidelines

The main reason that there are so many rules for number plates is so that they can be read easily by the police or ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras. This is essential is your vehicle is involved in an incident, stolen or you are caught driving illegally. 

First things first, the DVLA are clear that the only font allowed on a number plate is the standard ‘Charles Wright’ font or its 3D counterpart. This means that no other font is allowed, not even italics. If you opt to use another font on your vehicle then you could be fined. The characters must be displayed in black, with the front plate having a white background and the rear a yellow reflective background.

Along with this, there are also rules in terms of the measurements of the number plate. The character height must be 79mm, width 50mm (except 1 and I) and the stroke width 14mm. Space between character is 11mm and the gap in-between the two groups of characters 33mm. 

What can be displayed on a number plate? 

There is also a restriction on exactly what can be displayed on a number plate. At the bottom of the plate, there must be details to confirm where the vehicle or registration plate was purchased, followed by the address of the seller. 

The only logos and badges allowed on a number plate are national flags, these include: 

• Great Britain flag 
• English flag 
• Scottish flag
• Welsh flag
• EU flag 

This means that any other symbol is illegal, such as football badges and logos of the brand of your vehicle which people often think are allowed. It is also essential that there are no obstructions to the number plate, so no objects can be covering the characters so they could be mistaken.

Are tinted plates legal? 

Now for the big question, are tinted number plates legal? Like we said earlier, this is a bit of a confusing area as the DVLA do not have any set rules on this. You are not allowed to obstruct the number plate so the characters aren’t visible. This means that on a standard number plate, a tinted background would not be allowed as it makes the characters harder to read. 

That being said, this doesn’t account for number plates where the characters are 3D or 4D. If the letters are 3D or 4D, this means the tinted glaze will be behind the text and it will still be visible. The DVLA are yet to comment or enforce any regulations in-regard to tinted number plates, therefore it is safe to say that to be cautious it may be best to hold off, or contact the DVLA directly before opting to add this modification to your number plate.