Number plate incorporating "GB" in a *plain* blue strip - i.e. without Union, EU or any other flag

Car_54

This is a money-saving forum. Why would anyone spend £xxx on new plates rather than £2.99 on a sticker.

It might not cost at all. The ferry companies used to send you one with the tickets.

The_Groat_Counter

williamgriffin said:

The_Groat_Counter said:

cajef said:

Plenty vinyl stickers to convert existing euro number plates to GB on ebay.

[...]

There are indeed plenty of vinyl stickers available with the Union flags, or indeed with the EU flag, but none that are flag-less.

What's the rush? It's not like you'll be on a touring holiday any time soon. 

Fair comment! Like many, I'm doing a bit of daydreaming about the future. Plus I was just interested in the post-Brexit situation.

Whether a Gendarme would really be petty enough to object to a car with a GB-with-Euro flag number plate I don't know... might depend if they had other reasons to pull you over... or even if there was some sort of UK-France/EU squabble ongoing at the time e.g. about fishing rights or whatever! (They might even be more willing to potentially object if they could see it was a vinyl stickered number plate as opposed to a 'proper' one.)

Also... lockdown... too much time to think about ephemera!

blackdog2220

tell the  Gendarme  that your "made in france" gb sticker is being held up at french cusoms 

ilikewatch2

The_Groat_Counter said:

cajef said:

Plenty vinyl stickers to convert existing euro number plates to GB on ebay.

Yes, but I can't find any that are just a plain GB design without a Union flag, like this...

There are indeed plenty of vinyl stickers available with the Union flags, or indeed with the EU flag, but none that are flag-less.

There are flag-less conversion stickers for sale on eBay:

AdrianC

Car_54 said:

This is a money-saving forum. Why would anyone spend £xxx on new plates rather than £2.99 on a sticker.

The one I linked to isn't even a sticker. It's magnetic. You put it on when you go, you take it off when you come back and put it somewhere safe. You move it between cars when you change.

It might not cost at all. The ferry companies used to send you one with the tickets.

It's hard to email a sticker. And why bother, given most of them would go in the bin, and the few remainders can be sold expensively in the shop on the boat?

Emmia

The_Groat_Counter said:

This is the current guidance on GOV.UK regarding number plates and Travelling in Europe...

"You do not need a GB sticker if your number plate includes the GB identifier on its own or with the Union flag. But you will need to display a GB sticker clearly on the rear of your vehicle if your number plate has any of the following:

• a Euro symbol
• a national flag of England, Scotland or Wales
• numbers and letters only - no flag or identifier

If you’re in Spain, Cyprus or Malta, you must display a GB sticker no matter what is on your number plate."

The bit I'm interested in is this - "if your number plate includes the GB identifier on its own or with the Union flag"...

Basically it now seems possible to have a legitimate number plate with a blue strip on the right hand side with just a plain GB in it, without any flag at all, and for this to be enough for a vehicle to travel abroad without an oval GB sticker - at least in countries that have ratified the 1968 Vienna Convention (hence the exclusion of Spain, Cyprus and Malta).

Indeed on Wikipedia, on the Vehicle Registration Plates of Europe entry, someone has already mocked up what a plain GB strip would look like here (contrast with a strip featuring the Union flag here). It's worth noting that number plates from Kosovo (RKS), Monenegro (MNE), North Macedonia (NMK), Serbia (SRB) and Turkey (TR) also exist with the country code in a plain blue strip on the left, i.e. without any national flag.

The Wikipedia article on the Vienna Convention suggests that a blue strip isn't necessary, just that a country code integrated on the number plate needs to be clearly seperated from the registration number itself. However the blue strip has become commonplace for this purpose with other non-EU countries since it's adoption across the EU.

This plain design would be good for those who'd like to avoid a big oval GB sticker, and would also prefer not to have a Union flag on their number plate either for whatever reason. However looking around at replacement plate companies on the web, none seem to offer this plain design yet - nor indeed could I find any plain GB vinyl strip stickers that you can stick on the side of a number plate (there are plenty around with Union flags, or EU flags, or other symbols...).

Seems like there's a distinct gap in the market here!

The GB national identifying mark is also specified in the earlier 1926 Paris convention (which applies almost no where) and the 1949 Geneva convention which applies in Ireland, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.

Nebulous2

I have driven on the continent about 12 times in the last 20 years without a GB sticker, or an identifier on my number plate. Mostly France, but occasionally Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, with a single day trip to Germany. I'm not convinced that all those police who have studiously left me alone until now will suddenly be on my case. 

Benoit87

Funnily enough I replaced my EU stars plates with union jack plates on the blue strip instead (I voted remain but accept we can no longer fly the stars flag now) plus I drive to France/Belgium a lot so I dont want a tacky oval on my car. 

However I did at first think the same when I saw this guidance about clear blue strips but you are right nowhere online does this currently. 

Then this last week I thought about Gibraltar as they had the blue strip with EU stars and GBZ so I googled what they are doing now, and it turns out they have now moved to a simple blue strip with GBZ on it - no union jack or Gibraltar flag. 

So seems they have the clear strip option so why can't we here in the UK?? 

iainscomputer

AdrianC said:

Car_54 said:

This is a money-saving forum. Why would anyone spend £xxx on new plates rather than £2.99 on a sticker.

The one I linked to isn't even a sticker. It's magnetic. You put it on when you go, you take it off when you come back and put it somewhere safe. You move it between cars when you change.

It might not cost at all. The ferry companies used to send you one with the tickets.

It's hard to email a sticker. And why bother, given most of them would go in the bin, and the few remainders can be sold expensively in the shop on the boat?

I got one of these free with some Beam deflectors, imagine my disappointment when it wouldn’t stick due to the boot lid on my Civic tourer being plastic!

poppasmurf_bewdley

I collected my new caravan a couple of weeks ago, and the dealer fitted it with a number plate with the EU badge and stars - three months after we left the EU.

I asked for the EU to be painted over before I left, and the plate was replaced by me within 24 hours.  There is no way I would ever be seen with anything bearing the EU flotsam and jetsam.