Vehicle registration plates of British Columbia

The Canadian province of British Columbia first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display licence plates in 1904.

Passenger plates 1964 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for licence plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the province's first licence plate that complied with these standards.

License plate serials for passenger vehicles omit the following letters: I, O, Q, U, Y, and Z. From the introduction of yearly registration stickers with the ABC-123 series in 1970 until the end of the 123-ABC series in 2014, the set of 20 available letters was divided into two 10-letter blocks: A-K and L-X. When a serial reached the end of a block, the next issue would roll over to the start of the same block, so that AAK was followed by ABA, rather than AAL. Likewise, AAX was followed by ALA, rather than ABA. The serials were issued in two sets of 8 blocks each (letters first 1970-2001 , then numbers first 2001-2014): AAA-KKJ, AAL-KKX, ALA-KXK, LAA-XKK, ALL-KXX, LLA-XXK, LAL-XKX, and LLL-XXW. As of the AB1-23C series introduced in 2014, the serials are being issued in a single 20-letter block, in alphabetical order (i.e AA0-00A to AX9-99X, then BA0-00A, etc.).

Note that the letter Y appears on certain commercial vehicle plates.

Image	First issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1964	Yearly changes between blue on white, white on blue and red on white.	Beautiful British Columbia	123-456		Insurance renewal required a new plate every year
	1970	blue on white	Beautiful British Columbia	ABC-123		Introduction of yearly vehicle registration stickers and the idea of permanent plates
	1973	blue on white	Beautiful British Columbia	ABC-123
	1979	white on blue	Beautiful British Columbia	ABC-123
150px	1985	blue on reflective white with screened provincial government flag logo	Beautiful British Columbia	ABC-123
150px	2001	blue on reflective white with screened provincial government flag logo	Beautiful British Columbia	123-ABC	000-AAA to 999-XXW, excluding the 000-MAB and 000-VAB series
	2007	Special Issue 2010 Olympics plate with screened mountain design on background and 2010 Winter Olympic logo on centre.	The Best Place On Earth	123-MAB	000-MAA to 999-MKK
	2014	blue on reflective white with screened provincial government flag logo	Beautiful British Columbia	AB1-23C	AA0-00A to present

Truck plates 1979 to present

Image	First issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1979	green on white	Beautiful British Columbia	12-34-AB
	1985	blue on reflective white with screened provincial government flag logo	Beautiful British Columbia	1234-AB
	2007	Special Issue 2010 Olympics plate with screened mountain design on background and 2010 Winter Olympic logo on centre.	The Best Place On Earth	AB-1234
	2008	blue on reflective white with screened provincial government flag logo	Beautiful British Columbia	AB-1234

Licence plate decals

Since 1970, it has been necessary in British Columbia to place a decal on the rear licence plate as proof of current insurance in order to be permitted to drive the vehicle. Decals have been used since 1970, but they all expired on February 28 of the following year until March 1980. Then they expired at the end of the month on the decal, until 1994. Then an additional decal, with a number on it for the day it expired, was introduced.

The decals are currently issued by the provincial motor vehicle insurer, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia The following are the colour patterns used in years from 1980 onward:

Year	Colour
1980	Black and white
1981	Red and black
1982	Green and white
1983	Black and white
1984	Orange and white
1985	Blue and white
1986	Red and blue
1987	Red and white
1988	Dark blue and white
1989	Green and white
1990	Pink and white
1991	Blue and white
1992	Black and white
1993	Green and white
1994	Red and white
1995	Blue and white
1996	Black and white (Jan-Sept)
1996	Pink and white (Oct-Dec)
1997	Green and white
1998	Red and white
1999	Blue and white, thick or thin border
2000	Yellow
2001	Orange
2002	Dark green
2003	Pink
2004	Yellow
2005	Sky-blue
2006	Red
2007	Light green
2008	Baby blue and white
2009	Dark orange and black
2010	Green and black
2011	Yellow and black
2012	Pink and black
2013	Orange and black
2014	Baby blue and black (full year shown)
2015	Mustard Yellow and black (full year shown)
2016	Pink and black (full year shown)

External links

• British Columbia licence plates 1969-present
• A Pictoral History of British Columbia Licence Plates