Editing Vanity plate (section)

==United Kingdom==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2009}}
[[file:Jaguar A1 - geograph.org.uk - 981388.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Jaguar Mark IV]] car, [[A1 registration plate|registered under A1]], parked in [[Cathedral Close, Exeter]], May 1948.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Jaguar A1 © Keith Yardley cc-by-sa/2.0 |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/981388 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}</ref> This registration was issued in 1903 and has since had a variety of owners and used on many vehicles.]]

In the United Kingdom, [[British car number plates|number plates]] are issued by the [[Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency]] (DVLA). They do not approve personalised registrations (often also called private number plates and cherished number plates in the UK) if they contain words which are offensive in any widely used language. One registration to slip the net was PEN 15. The DVLA however lately{{when?|date=September 2023}} have released more and more previously banned combinations such as [[Human sexual activity|SEX]] and [[Damnation|DAM]]. UK plates have to match certain very strict letter/number combinations: see [[vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom]].

Registrations can be sold, or transferred from one vehicle to another, with some restrictions. Registrations can also be held on a retention document issued by the DVLA, this is perfect for dealers or if the owner is in between vehicles. Only the registered owner/registered keeper of the vehicle can be awarded the V778 Retention Document when making an online application. However, the V317 form (postal application) allows the number to be retained in someone else’s name (allocating them as new Grantee) on the issued V778 retention document so the seller can transfer the plate to whoever is receiving the private number plate. Usually the Cherished Number Agent handling the sale will arrange all this for the seller making it hassle free. The trade of number plates was started by private dealers, entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity to sell something in demand. Originally, the only vanity plates allowed to be transferred were ordinary registrations that had been transferred. The DVLA began selling personalised registrations unrelated to the registration districts in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All 74 Lots From DVLA's Original December 1989 Personalised Number Plate Auction |url=https://numberplates.org/articles/original-1989-dvla-personalised-number-plate-auction.html |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=numberplates.org}}</ref> More than 4.2 million registrations were sold during the first 25 years of this initiative, raising over £2 billion for the UK Treasury.<ref>{{cite news |title = DVLA marks 25 years of personalised registration plates |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-30196411 |publisher = BBC News |date = November 26, 2014 }}</ref>

There is some additional flexibility available by using numbers that resemble letters (e.g., ''S'' for 5), or by using large black, yellow or white headed screws to fix the plate to the car to fill in or create a gap (e.g. in the middle of 'H' to make it look like two 1s or Is, or vice versa: two 1s made into an H with a black screw head). However, the font style, size and spacing is mandated by law, making the practice illegal. The font that is used on all new number plates is the ''Charles Wright 2001'' version of the [[Mandatory (typeface)|Mandatory typeface]], and was first introduced in September 2001 to coincide with the DVLA release of new style [[DVLA]] number plates.