Vehicle registration plates of Brazil

The current system, being phased out in favor of Mercosul standard plates, was created in 1990 and was named Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores (RENAVAM). It uses the form "LLL·NNNN", where LLL is a three-letter combination followed by a four-digit number with a dot between the letters and numbers. A combination given to one vehicle stays with it "for life" - it cannot be changed or transferred to another vehicle. Vanity plates are allowed as long as they abide to the same standard as non-vanity plates.

Above the combination is a metallic band with the State abbreviation (SP = São Paulo, RJ = Rio de Janeiro, PR = Paraná, AM = Amazonas etc.) and the name of the municipality in which the vehicle is currently registered. This band has to be changed when a vehicle needs to be registered in a different municipality. Rear number plates are bound to the vehicle by a plastic seal. Broken seals invalidate the number plate, which has to be re-sealed by the authorities. Seals need to be broken in order to change State/Municipality tags.

The size of the Brazilian license plates has been standardized to 400 x 130 mm (15" x 5" approx.) in 2008. That standardization also requires a unique typeface known as "Mandatory", which is similar to the typeface used on British plates introduced there in 2001. Plates in North American standard or European standard size can no longer be used as of January 1, 2008.

Privately owned license plate in Mandatory font, compulsory since 2012

• black on grey: privately owned vehicles
• white on red: any kind of paid transportation (buses, taxis etc.)
• red on white: driving school (autoescola in Portuguese)
• black on white: official use (government-owned cars: police departments, fire departments, federal, state or city public services)
• gray on black: collector's items (vehicles older than 30 years in excellent state of conservation and in original state - with more than 80% of its original components).
• white on green: manufacturer plates for vehicles under testing, dealer-testing, or in some cases test-drive (in most cases test-drive cars are registered to the dealership and thus use black on grey plates; privately owned cars being tested after repairs usually carry dealer-fitted green plates over their black on grey plates)
• white on blue: diplomatic use (in this case in the format CD 1234 or CC 1234) or newer licenses like EMB 1234)

The letters on the license plate can describe the state where a vehicle was originally registered. Vehicles relocated from one state to another will show the new state/municipality on the replaceable tag, but it is always possible to determine the place of original registration for a used vehicle by observing the license plate range for each Brazilian State:

Rear plate from Pernambuco

Front license plate of a truck from Pernambuco

State	1st sequence	2nd sequence	3rd sequence	4th sequence	5th sequence	6th sequence	7th sequence	8th sequence	9th sequence	10th sequence	11st sequence
Paraná (PR)	AAA to BEZ	RHA — RHZ
São Paulo (SP)	BFA to GKI	SAV to SAV	QSN to QSZ
Minas Gerais (MG)	GKJ to HOK	NXX to NYG	OLO to OMH	OOV to ORC	OWH to OXK	PUA to PZZ	QMQ to QQZ	QUA to QUZ	QWR to QXZ	RFA to RGD	RMD — RMZ
Maranhão (MA)	HOL to HQE	NHA to NHT	NMP to NNI	NWS to NXQ	OIR to OJQ	OXQ to OXZ	PSA to PTZ
Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)	HQF to HTW	NRF to NSD	OOG to OOU	QAA to QAZ
Ceará (CE)	HTX to HZA	NQL to NRE	NUM to NVF	OCB to OCU	OHX to OIQ	ORN to OSV	OZA	PMA to POZ
Sergipe (SE)	HZB to IAP	NVG to NVN	OEJ to OES	OZB	QKN to QKZ	QMA to QMP
Rio Grande do Sul (RS)	IAQ to JDO
Distrito Federal (DF)	JDP to JKR	OVM to OVV	OZW to PBZ	REC to REZ
Bahia (BA)	JKS to JSZ	NTD to NTW	NYH to NZZ	OKI to OLG	OUF to OVD	OZC to OZV	PJA to PLZ	QTU to QTZ	RCO to RDR
Pará (PA)	JTA to JWE	NSE to NTC	OBT to OCA	OFI to OFW	OSW to OTZ	QDA to QEZ	QVA to QVZ
Amazonas (AM)	JWF to JXY	NOI to NPB	OAA to OAO	OXM	PHA to PHZ	QZA to QZZ
Mato Grosso (MT)	JXZ to KAU	NIY to NJW	NPC to NPQ	NTX to NUG	OAP to OBS	QBA to QCZ	RAK to RAZ
Goiás (GO)	KAV to KFC	NFC to NGZ	NJX to NLU	NVO to NWR	OGH to OHA	OMI to OOF	PQA to PRZ	QTN to QTS	RBK to RCN
Pernambuco (PE)	KFD to KME	NXU to NXW	OYL to OYZ	PCA to PGZ	QYA to QYZ
Rio de Janeiro (RJ)	KMF to LVE	RIO to RIO	RIP to RKV
Piauí (PI)	LVF to LWQ	NHU to NIX	ODU to OEI	OUA to OUE	OVW to OVY	PIA to PIZ	QRN to QRZ
Santa Catarina (SC)	LWR to MMM	OKD to OKH	QHA to QJZ	QTK to QTM	RAA to RAJ	RDS to REB	RKW to RLP
Paraíba (PB)	MMN to MOW	NPR to NQK	OET to OFH	OFX to OGG	OXO	QFA to QFZ	QSA to QSM	RLQ — RMC
Espírito Santo (ES)	MOX to MTZ	OCV to ODT	OVE to OVF	OVH to OVL	OYD to OYK	PPA to PPZ	QRB to QRM	RBA to RBJ
Alagoas (AL)	MUA to MVK	NLV to NMO	OHB to OHK	ORD to ORM	OXN	QLA to QLM	QTT	QWG to QWL
Tocantins (TO)	MVL to MXG	OLH to OLN	OYA to OYC	QKA to QKM	QWA to QWF
Rio Grande do Norte	MXH to MZM	NNJ to NOH	OJR to OKC	OVZ to OWG	QGA to QGZ	RGE to RGN
Acre (AC)	MZM to NAG	NXR to NXT	OVG	OXP	QLU to QLZ	QWM to QWQ
Roraima (RR)	NAH to NBA	NUH to NUL
Rondônia (RO)	NBB to NEH	OHL to OHW	OXL	QRA	QTA to QTJ
Amapá (AP)	NEI to NFB	QLN to QLT

Pre-production sample of Brazil's Mercosur license plate. Note that the actual implemented alphanumeric format is different from the one shown above: it is LLLNLNN and not LNLNLLN, as seen here)

In October 2014 the design of the new license plate to be used by all Mercosur countries was officially presented. This consists of a plate of 15.75 in × 5.12 in (400.05 mm × 130.05 mm), with a white background, the characters and frame in black and a blue band at the top that shows the name of the country, its flag and the Mercosur logo. The typeface used is FE-Schrift.

In September, 2018, Mercosur standard license plates started to be adopted in Rio de Janeiro. As of January 2020, all states have started issuing the new plates. By the end of 2023, all vehicles are expected to be carrying these new plates.[1]