Many states in the U.S. boast beautiful, artistic license plates. Hawaii offers a simple white plate with a colorful rainbow stretching across it, and one of Oklahoma’s standard plates boasts a blue background with a white outline of a bird. International plates aren’t always as colorful, though a lot of them offer distinctive designs.
The country of Liechtenstein, for example, has black number plates with white text and the national coat of arms, while Switzerland’s plates are white with black text, featuring the county’s shield on one side and cantonal crests, denoting the region of Switzerland on the other. You don’t see many pink license plates other than novelty plates, but that’s about to change.
Number plates in France are simple but elegant, featuring black numbers on a white background with a Euroband (the blue stripe) on the left with the European Union flag and a white letter F, along with another blue strip on the right with the coat of arms or emblem, and a region code.
Oddly, unlike in America where your car must be registered to the state in which you live, in France the vehicle’s owner can choose the region displayed on the plate — and it does not have to be the region in which they live! Beginning in 2026, however, some plates in France won’t have that region identified, and they’ll be bright pink! Why is France making this bold move, and will it affect all drivers?
Pink plates to fight fraud
You may remember France’s iconic yellow headlights, but pink license plates? You probably aren’t surprised to learn that no, France is not replacing its dignified number plates with rosy pink tags. The new, brighter number plates are only replacing temporary plates, which currently match the regular tags but are set apart with WW in front of the tag number.
France issues about 400,000 temporary plates every year, for new cars that need full registration, vehicles that have come from other countries that require a French certificat d’immatriculation, and for cars used by dealerships for demonstrations.
The current system makes it difficult for law enforcement to verify that temporary plates are still valid. Officers have to use a computer system to check each plate, but the new pink design will also give visual confirmation. Along with the color, the plates will display an expiration date that replaces the regional marker.
According to The Connexionthe new pink plates will also help combat fraud, which is a known problem with the temporary tags. Because they can be hard for law enforcement to spot, drivers will sometimes continue to use them months or even years after they’ve expired. France has also experienced issues with fines being sent to the wrong people, partly because the WW numbers can be reissued after 14 months, meaning a new tag owner may be sent a fine that was meant for the prior owner. These new pink plates will be used beginning January 1, 2026.
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