DVLA censors ban hundreds of registration numbers from 2025 releases

The first registration number series of 2025 will be the 25 series. The 25 series numbers will be eligible for use on the roads from 1st March 2025, and will be followed by the 75 series in September 2025.

A popular unpopular tradition

Every registration series released is incomplete. DVLA always withholds a subset of vehicle registration numbers (VRNs) that it considers to be potentially offensive, distressing or provocative. It's become something of a tradition: DVLA censors the number plates and we write about it.

There are two evergreen number plate topics that never get old. If we are contacted by a journalist, the questions they ask will most likely concern the world's most expensive number plates, the UK's most expensive plates or rude/offensive number plates (especially if they've been banned). Apparently, people love to hear about big prices and censorship.

What gets banned?

The combinations that DVLA keep back are those that may represent insults, swear words, sexual references, references to criminal organisations and activity, references to terrorism, references to drugs, references with racist, sexist or LGBTQ+ connotations, some political and religious references etc. You get the idea.

Quite where the censor's line is drawn can sometimes be a little hard to fathom. Occasionally surprising combinations do slip through and get issued while numbers which, to us, seem less controversial get withheld. The level of potential contention is clearly a very subjective assessment.

What's banned this time?

The eye of the beholder

As well as deciding which registrations could cause a kerfuffle, another tricky judgement is how closely a suppressed registration actually resembles the unacceptable term it is supposed to represent. Take, for example, ORG 45M: this combination (which is currently for sale from Regtransfers) was issued, despite its sexual reference and the fact that it is very clearly readable at a glance. On the other hand, the registration OR25 ASM, a slightly less clear representation, is one of those which has been banned from issue as part of the 25 series.

These are paragons of clarity compared to some of the cryptic combinations that get withheld. Some can only be decoded by wearing strong prescription glasses, closing one eye and squinting with the other. And even then only if you already know the answer.

Others require interpretation and a little guesswork. For example, GB25 DWN may seem meaningless at first glance, but when we look at similar banned numbers, such as GB25 BAD, GB25 BOM, GB25 KLL, GB25 SHT and GB25 WAR, we begin to see that they could be read as anti-British sentiments. This interpretation seems to be supported by the fact that DVLA banned similar plates in the 24 series.

In the end, none of these registration numbers carries any intended message or meaning beyond their official raison d'etre, which is to identify and distinguish motor vehicles. That is what the combinations were contrived for, and that is all the combinations were contrived for. Everything beyond that function, everything that makes registration numbers interesting, amusing, desirable and valuable, is perception. It's really quite extraordinary when you think about it.

Anyway, the full list appears in the table on this page. See which you can figure out and which ones just seem baffling; also, see if you think the combinations you can understand seem deserving of a ban or if they seem harmless. We'd be interested to hear your opinions via our social media channels.