Bundeswehr license plates with the letter Y have existed since the Bundeswehr was founded in 1955. The reason for the distinctive Bundeswehr license plate with the Y as the first letter and up to six additional digits is very simple: there are a large number of military vehicles in the Bundeswehr fleet that have to be assigned according to their identification number. The maximum number of Y license plates that can be registered is 999,999, so this solution offers enough space for the various number combinations.
In addition, all letter combinations that the Bundeswehr would have wanted to use for its vehicles - including BW - were already in use elsewhere for civilian applications. Only the letters X and Y were not used by any other institutions and were available for selection. Today, the letter X is used for NATO license plates in a similar way to the Bundeswehr solution.
Appearance of the Bundeswehr license plate with Y
The Bundeswehr license plate with the first letter Y has a largely uniform design. To the left of the Y on the license plate is a German flag. The Y is separated by a hyphen to form the up to six-digit identification number. The length of the number depends on various factors: A three-digit identification number on the Y license plate is assigned to Bundeswehr vehicles that were purchased in the USA or that are stationed there and in Canada. Single-digit license plates belong to inspectors from the army, air force or navy, for example. The Bundeswehr license plate Y-1 identifies the vehicle of the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.
Special features of the Y license plate
Bundeswehr license plates with a Y design are non-reflective and produced in a different font to conventional vehicle license plates. The use of non-reflective license plates is intended to make recognition by the enemy more difficult in an emergency. The so-called FE font (forgery-impeding font), which is used for license plates, differs from the DIN font (DIN-1451), which is used for Bundeswehr vehicles. The DIN font was also used for regular vehicles before the changeover to the FE font on November 1, 2000 and is still used for Bundeswehr vehicles today.
The seal, which is attached behind the Y on Bundeswehr license plates, also looks different to conventional license plates: You can see the federal eagle with the inscription "Bundeswehr Zulassungsstelle", which is where the seal badge comes from. There are also red Y license plates, which are used for vehicles that are still being tested or are needed for crossings.
