Vehicle registration plates of the Channel Islands


Vehicle registration plates, commonly referred to as number plates, are the mandatory numeric or alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle. The Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey are outside the United Kingdom and the European Union, and have registration marks that are different from those used in the UK.

Jersey

Standard plates

registration plates consist of the letter 'J' followed by one to six digits; plates may now incorporate the coat of arms of Jersey in a white strip on the left, along with the country identifier GBJ. This design is similar to the EU standard plate, but does not incorporate the European flag, as Jersey is outside the European Union.

Special plates

Hire cars registered in Jersey display a silver letter 'H' on a red background on the left of the registration plate.
The prefix 'E' is used to designate temporary imports.
Cherished plates, having the format 'JSY' followed by one to three digits, are officially auctioned. Such is the desirability of low digit registration marks that these are often included in the auctions.
A Jersey "trader" plate has white letters on a red background and is made of a flexible magnetic material. These plates are for use by a bona fide motor trader on any unregistered vehicle being used in connection with the business of that motor trader.

Bailiwick of Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey plates have been compulsory since 1908.

Standard plates

plates consist of up to five digits, with no letters. Plates may be either silver on a black background, or black on the white/yellow backgrounds as in the UK. An oval containing the letters GBG, the island's international vehicle registration code, is sometimes included.

Special plates

Registration number 1 is reserved for, and displayed on the Bailiff of Guernsey's car. The official car of the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey has no number plate. His private cars have G1 and G2 as registration numbers. Guernsey hire cars sport a black 'H' on a yellow background on a separate square plate.

Most expensive plates

From 2012 some number plates beginning with 0 and 00 were released to generate revenue for the island. Registration 007 is a highly desirable plate especially for fans of James Bond or "007" - the plate achieved £240,000 at an auction in September 2015.

Alderney

In Alderney, a self-governing Crown Dependency in the Channel Islands, registrations are issued with the prefix 'AY' followed by a space and then 1, two, three or four digits.
Either international identifier GBA or GBG may be displayed on the vehicle, and this is seen either in the oval format required internationally by the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, or on the side of the registration plate, in a similar style to that used in the EEA under EU Regulation 2411/98. The latest numbers issued are in the low 3000's.
Alderney is identified as a jurisdiction in its own right in the 1926 Convention on Motor Traffic.
Before the Second World War registration were issued at the Island Hall by the Island's Government, the States of Alderney; following the 1948 Agreement driver and vehicle licensing was delegated by the States of Alderney to the Guernsey Government as one of the "transferred services"; thus motor vehicle registrations are now issued by the Guernsey Government upon application to the General Office of the States of Alderney at the Island Hall in Alderney.
Registration certificates are issued by Guernsey on the States of Guernsey's Environment Department logo, but with the issuing authority stated as the States of Alderney. Because of this, the international designator for Guernsey may be displayed on the car instead of GBA, if preferred by the car's owner.
There are no legal requirements as to how an Alderney plate is to be made up – the Alderney Road Traffic Ordinance appears to be silent on this.
Alderney plates are commonly seen as either white or silver on a black background, or black on the white or yellow. One or two vehicles are to be seen with old French-style white/yellow plates,n German or American-style plates. Occasionally number plates may even be hand-drawn, or the number painted on the car.

Notable plates

AY 1 is privately owned, as are all single digit registrations.
AY 999 is used for the main police car.
Several vehicle registrations correspond to the four-digit telephone number of their respective owners – for example, the 's courtesy vehicle bears the mark AY 2471.

Sark and Herm

and Herm ban motor vehicles other than tractors from their roads. There is no law requiring registration plates, but tractors on Sark still have to be licensed yearly, evidenced by a sticker displayed somewhere on the vehicle.