DVLA banned number plates ahead of 26 plate release

The DVLA has already blocked a range of plates for a variety of reasons, including resemblance to swear words and sexual references.

The new ‘26’ registration plates will arrive on UK roads next year, but character combinations considered to be offensive, provocative or otherwise unsuitable for release will be withheld.

A Freedom of Information request by personalised plate supplier Regtransfers found that the DVLA has banned more than 400 ‘26’ plates from release.

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This is standard practice for each release; in September 2024, 210 character combinations were banned from the '25' plates, and earlier this year 436 combinations were confirmed as withheld from the forthcoming '26' release.

Banned combinations typically contain references to crime, violence, religion, sex, sexual and gender identity, weapons, insults, racism, sexism and more.

Some of the banned ‘75’ plate combinations include TE26 ROR, GO26 WAR, and JE26 HAD.

In rare cases, the DVLA can revoke a number plate after it has been issued if it later becomes problematic.

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Regtransfers CEO Mark Trimbee states: "Out of professional curiosity, we’ve been keeping an eye on the DVLA’s banned plate combinations, and while each new list contains an expected range of rude words, body parts and so on, there are also particular censored combinations that can be quite telling of the current sociopolitical climate.

“Number plates aren’t deliberately arranged to spell out words, but the human brain has a particular knack for pattern recognition. This is what makes certain plate combinations fun, appealing and valuable, but it’s also why a random mix of characters can appear offensive - extremely so in some cases - and why the DVLA will likely always have to work to censor certain arrangements.

“Some might see it as unnecessary overkill, others will see it as a necessity to safeguard communities. Ultimately, as with each new release, there will still be plenty of great combinations to look out for on the UK’s roads.”

Is your number plate legal?

These are the rules you should be aware of around licence plates from the DVLA.

The number plates on your vehicle must:

• be made from a reflective material
• display black characters on a white background (front plate)
• display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
• not have a background pattern
• be marked to show who supplied the number plate
• be marked with a British Standard number - this is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021

The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black.

Your number plates can also:

• have 3D (raised) characters
• display certain flags, symbols and identifiers
• display a green flash, if you have a zero-emission vehicle