How old are number plates? Tracing their origins in the Czech lands

Exactly 120 years ago, in 1906, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began systematically registering motor vehicles, requiring the few car owners in the Czech lands — then still part of the Empire — to display a clearly visible registration plate.

One of the best people to explain the origins of number plates is Martin Leška, chairman of the Association of Friends of Number Plates, which brings together enthusiasts and collectors. He explains how the system introduced 120 years ago worked:

Martin Leška|Photo: Czech Television/ ČT24

“The system was regional. Each land within the empire was assigned an identifying letter, followed by a serial number from one to 999. Once that capacity was used up, Roman numerals were added.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Czech lands – particularly Bohemia – were among the most motorised and industrialised regions of the monarchy. In 1906, several hundred cars and motorcycles were already on the roads in Bohemia and Roman numerals were used almost from the very beginning.

Photo: Praga

Attempts to register vehicles, however, had existed even earlier. For instance, Prague had implemented a car numbering system several years before 1906, though this was purely municipal.

The logic of the broader empire-wide registration system survived into Czechoslovakia and remained in use until 1932, when the rapidly growing number of vehicles rendered it increasingly impractical.

Interestingly, until 1953, vehicle owners were not issued with ready-made plates. Instead, they were given a registration number and, as Leška explained, it was up to them how they displayed it.

“Some people had their plates painted by signwriters, others simply painted the number directly onto the car with a brush. Having a number plate produced in a more refined way was a mark of prestige and social standing. For owners of luxury cars, a carefully crafted plate was far more appropriate."

Photo: Radek Duchoň, Czech Radio

Another key difference from today was that the number plate belonged to the owner rather than the vehicle itself and Leška added:

“There was even a publicly accessible list, much like a phone book, that existed until the 1930s, where you could look up number plates and see who owned a vehicle.”

Škoda 100|Photo: Jaroslav Hoření, Czech Radio

After the Communist takeover in 1948, number plates became a matter of state security. The old system made it easy to see how many vehicles were registered in each district, which authorities feared could help Western spies. In the paranoid climate of the 1950s, they worried that foreign agents could use these numbers to gauge a region’s economic or strategic importance. Following Soviet advice, the state then introduced a deliberately confusing system that was “unreadable” not only for foreigners, but also for ordinary citizens.

Škoda Favorit|Photo: Cherubino, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

It was only with the mass expansion of motoring at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s that the state abandoned this approach. In 1960, a district-based system was introduced that was more practical and transparent and, with various modifications, remained in use until the end of the 1990s. In fact, Leška still drives a Škoda Favorit, now considered a veteran car, with one of these number plates.

“I still have a Klatovy district plate. I don’t drive wearing a hat, but I try to look suitably rural.”

The current system of regional registration plates has been used in Czechia since 2001. Ten years ago, in 2016, a new rule came into force allowing drivers to choose their own personalised number plates. These have eight characters, must not be vulgar or misleading, and come at a price – each individual plate costs CZK 5,000 (around 200 euros).

Photo: Honza Ptáček, Czech Radio