SAUDI ARABIA

المملكة العربية السعودية
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

HISTORICAL NOTES  

(z)     1930s   it is not known when registrations began in Saudi Arabia:   nothing is known before the unification of the kingdom in 1932.   A known private rear plate from the mid-1930s was hand-painted, all Arabic, black on white with ركاب (“passengers”) above a number to the left, مكة (“Mecca”) above خصوصي (“private”) in the centre and نمرة (“number”) above the serial number.   The front plate only had نمرة and the Arabic number.
        It is reported that similar plates in white on black with للايجار (“for hire”) also existed.   A photo of a vehicle that is probably from the 1920s is known that has only crossed swords on it and is thought to be the vehicle of the then King.
        1940?   plates were all Arabic, hand painted, with an integral rectangular extension at the top.   Known colours were black on white (خصوصي (“private”)) and white on black (للايجار (“for hire”: buses and taxis)) written on the extension. The main body of the plate had ركاب (“passengers”) above a number to the left, the serial number in the middle and a letter (only ح (“H”) is known), thought to denote the district, to the right.   A cast aluminium plate is known that may be a later version of this series;  it has للايجار (“for hire”) on the extension at the top above the Arabic number, a horizontal divider and the western equivalent MM-1867.   It is known that plates were also required on donkey carts during this period but not the details.
        The King had very large square plates with only the crossed swords and palm tree symbol on.   It is not known what plates were used by other members of the Royal household.

(y)     by 1948-1956?   vehicles belonging to the company Aramco had American sized plates that were initially cast aluminium, later pressed, with ارامکو (“Aramco”) above an Arabic number of up to four digits.   Black on white (earlier) and black on silver (later) plates are thought to have been for cars whilst white on red plates are thought to have been for commercial vehicles.   Aramco towns are private property and some of these plates continued in use until perhaps 1970.
        1950?   bus plates were cast aluminium, black on white, approximately 330×215 mm, and had three sections separated by red lines with all Arabic lettering.   At the top was the number with the town, district or region name (see Table 3) at the bottom left and اوتوبيس (“bus”) at the bottom right.
        All Arabic cast plates for motorcycles (semicircular), bicycles (triangular with a flat top) and donkey carts (rectangular silver on green) were issued by towns (see Table 7) in a variety of designs and probably colours.   It is thought that bicycle plates were only issued until about 1955. Known plates from Al Qaţīf had the legends بلدية القطيف (“Al Qaţīf municipality”) above دراجة ٩١٧ نارية (“motorcycle 917”), بلدية (“municipality”) above القطيف (“Al Qaţīf”) above نمرة ٢٠٥٥ دراجة (“cycle number 2055”) and عربة نقل (“cart”) above القطيف (“Al Qaţīf”) above نمرة ١٠٣٠ (“number 1030”).   It is thought that other municipalities probably had similar designs.
        The King had solid gold plates, probably measuring 290×180 mm with only the crossed swords and palm tree symbol.   Members of the Royal Court had silver on black, cast aluminium plates of the same size divided into four sections.   At the top left and top right were the crossed swords and palm tree symbol with the Arabic number between them, all being above الخاصة الملكية (“The Royal Court”).
        Official vehicles had cast aluminium plates in silver on black or green in sizes up to approximately 290×180 mm with a variety of legends, most having the crossed swords and palm tree symbol.   Some plates also had المملكة العربية السعودية (“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”).   Known legends are given in Table 6.

(x)     1955?-62?   plates were approximately 330×150 mm, cast aluminium, and had three sections separated by lines, often in red, and all Arabic lettering.   To the left was the town, district or region name above the vehicle type (which was also designated by the plate colours);  to the right was the number that for most issuing offices was up to 9999.   A few plates in this series were cast in a slightly longer and shallower size.   Known designations are given in Tables 3 and 4a.
        Owner provided, cast aluminium, single line plates were common in a variety of styles and colours having the same three elements and often including the number in western script.   Some plates also had the crossed swords logo and/or S.A. Vehicles were seen in Europe during this period with cast aluminium, white on green plates with SA and a number of up to three digits.
        Motorcycle plates became rectangular and had بلدية (“municipality”) or امانة مدينة (“secretariat of the city of”) at the top right with the district or city name at the top left (see Table 7).   The number was at the bottom left and دراجة نارية (“motorcycle” ) was at the bottom right.   Various colours are known, but it is likely that the correct colours were silver on black.   The known example of a donkey cart plate is silver on green with عربة نقل (“cart”) above بلدية سيهات (“municipality of Sayhāt”) above a horizontal line above the Arabic number.
        1955?-78?   Royal household plates were cast aluminium, silver on green (although a silver on red plate is also known), 330×195 mm, usually with a semi-circular section at the centre top.   The plates had the crossed swords and palm tree symbol with an Arabic number of up to three digits at the bottom.   Another (later?) version was similar but had ماكي (“royal”) and a four digit number.   A rear plate of this later style is known that only has the crossed swords and palm tree symbol and المملكة العربية السعودية (“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”).   Members of the Royal Court had similar silver on green plates with الملكية (“Royal”) at the centre left and الخاصة (“Court”) at the centre right and the number was from one to four digits. Plates are also known with ف (“F”) at the top above crossed swords above a one or two digit Arabic number but it is not known what the significance of the letter was.   A white on green plate is known that is not made of cast aluminium and has المملكة العربية السعودية (“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”) above crossed swords with the same two digit Arabic number in each bottom corner.

        Official vehicles had cast aluminium plates in silver on black or green, approximately 330×195 mm usually with a semi-circular section at the centre top and with a variety of legends, most having the crossed swords and palm tree symbol.   Known legends are given in Table 6.
        Military vehicles had a wide variety of styles and legends, being both hand painted and cast aluminium.   Most air force plates were white on blue whilst army plates are known that are white on black and black on white.   Known legends are given in Table 6.
        This white on black plate (٨٠١), although it has the “truck” designation at bottom left, has at upper left م · الأنابيب (“M · pipes”);  it is believed to be from a pipeline manufacturer’s truck but it is not known how typical this was.

(w)     1962?-72   plates were cast aluminium and the previous three part all Arabic format was rearranged so that the district name was at the top left with the vehicle type at the top right, separated by an encircled palm tree and swords;  the number, up to about 30000, was at the bottom.   Final plates in this series were pressed. Known district names are in Tables 3, but not all names therein will have been in use;  vehicle types were as in Table 4b.   Many plates were seen repainted in a wide variety of colours.
        Owner provided, cast aluminium or bronze, single line plates were common in a variety of styles and colours having the same elements and often including the number in western script.   Some plates also had the crossed swords logo and/or S.A.
        Vehicles were seen in Europe during this period with plates in a wide variety of styles, colours and materials with SA or KSA and a number of up to three digits.
        The known example of a motorcycle plate is silver on black with مرور (“traffic”: meaning traffic police) and the name of the city (see Table 7) above a horizontal line above the Arabic number with دراجة نارية (“motorcycle”) to the right of it.
        Oval, all Arabic, black on white, cast aluminium temporary plates existed with مؤقت (“temporary”) above the number.  These may have been used as export plates.

(v)     1972-78?   typically Arabic quartered style plates with Arabic text above the western equivalent were used.   At the left was the country name (or S.A.) above the vehicle class, and at the right a number of up to seven digits.   The colours and legends used are given in Table 4c.   A wide variety of owner provided cast, pressed, painted and plastic plates were available in a very wide range of styles including western only plates for vehicles travelling outside the country.
        Motorcycle plates varied in colour and from city to city but all had بلدية (“municipality”) or مرور (“traffic”) and the name of the city (see Table 7) above the Arabic number above دراجة نارية (“motorcycle”).   Some plates had these bottom two elements in reversed position, some plates had a horizontal dividing line and some plates had نمرة (“number”) on them also.
        Members of the Royal household are thought to have had normal series plates with low numbers.

(u)     by Feb 1978   plates were American size with mostly Arabic text.   The vehicle class and the country name were at the upper left and right of the plate, with the registration being a number of up to seven digits.   The number was repeated in small western numerals across the bottom of the plate.   All plates were coloured black on white, which commonly weathered to a beige or pale yellow.   All previous series of plates ceased to be valid at approximately the end of 1980 although some royal, important and wealthy people continued to use these plates until perhaps 2004 and they are still to be seen occasionally inside Aramco towns.   Vehicles travelling outside the country had owner provided plates in a variety of styles and colours with SA or KSA and a western number.   It is believed that temporary plates existed but details are unknown.
        Six digit numbers were issued to private vehicles in the central (Riyadh) area and seven digit numbers were issued in blocks to areas and/or vehicle types, see Table 5.   Numbers with up to five digits were reserved for royalty and wealthy or important persons.   Plates with up to three digit numbers were usually reserved for immediate members of the Royal family, some of whom had the same number on each of their many vehicles.   It is believed that the number 1 was the King himself.
        From about 1990 plates could optionally be on a single line with a western number to the left and the Arabic to the right, separated by an encircled palm tree and crossed swords in green.
        Motorcycles had similar, smaller, black on reflective white plates with نارية .د السعودية (“As Saudiya motorcycle”) above up to five Arabic numerals.
        1981?   export plates were introduced, also in black on white, with five digit numbers.

(t)     1930s   a red on white hand-painted plate from about 1935 is known with سفارات آمريقا (“Embassies America”) to the left of the number.
        1950s   diplomatic plates were cast aluminium, silver on black, with a central vertical divider.   To the left was a number of up to three digits (not Embassy coded) and to the right was هيئة سياسية (“Political Corps”).   A black on white plate was also reported, S.A. 26 CD, presumably an unofficial variant.
        1962?-72   diplomatic plates were cast aluminium, black on white, in typically quartered Arabic style.   At top left was C.D, at top right هيئة سياسية (“Political Corps”), at bottom left was the Arabic Embassy number (see Table 2, column 2 ) and at bottom right was the western serial number, a dash and the Arabic equivalent.
        1972-78   diplomatic plates changed to being pressed with the western Embassy number and serial number separated by an oblique line at the bottom left and the Arabic equivalents at the bottom right.
        1978-2003   diplomatic plates were white on a variety of shades of green and had C.D. ھּد السعودية at the top above the embassy number (for known codes see Table 2 , column 2), a low hyphen and a serial number.   Consular Corps plates had C.C. ھּق السعودية at the top with a diagonal line between the embassy number and serial number.   United Nations vehicles had otherwise normal CD plates but in white on blue.

(s)     1996   former series introduced completely superseding previous series by April 2001 except for some royal, important and wealthy people and some police vehicles.
        2002   taxi and machinery plates changed colours (see paragraph (p)).
        2003   K.S.A. added to diplomatic and consular plates, and the registration changed to three letters and three numerals.
        2003   the letters KSA would appear to have supplanted SA as the international identification letters about the time of the introduction of the new diplomatic plates.
        14 Jul 07   new plates introduced for all vehicles starting with truck plates in Jeddah.

General Note:  The situation in all eras is somewhat confused by two factors: (a) that up to the start of the 1978 series many owners painted their plates in a variety of non-standard colours,  and (b)  the presence in collections of 1978 and 1996 series plates that can be shown to be manufacturers’ samples or prototypes.

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