Colombia requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates. The current plate design was introduced in the 1990s, but some of the previous 1972 through 1990 design remain in use. Current regular system uses black on yellow plates. [1]
All vehicles are required to display plates, one on the front and one on the back. Peculiarly, in Colombia commercial vehicles are also required to display plates on the sides. Those plates have a white background. This is usually done not with actual metal plates, but by a large decal of the license plate. This practice can also be found on taxis in neighboring Panama and Peru, but in Colombia all commercial vehicles and public transport vehicles must display them.
Current plate types
| Category | Image | Type | Colors | Serial format | Legends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Spanish | |||||
| Passenger |  | Private | Particular | black on yellow | ABC·123[2][3] | The municipality of issuance is embossed at the bottom of the plate.[2][3] Plates issued in Bogotá until 1991 read "BOGOTA D.E." for Distrito Especial (Special District). In 1991 the city's name was changed to Santa Fé de Bogotá and plates began to read "STFE DE BOGOTA." In 2000 the city's name was changed yet again Bogotá, D.C. and those issued since read "BOGOTA D.C.". As of 2017 plates that say "BOGOTA D.E." are becoming quite rare and somewhat of a collectors' item. Santa Fe plates are still somewhat common but are beginning to go the same way. |
 | Commercial | Comercial | black on white[2][3] | |||
| Non-passenger |  | Official | Oficial | white on green | OAB·123 | |
 | Antique car | Auto antiguo | black on white with vertical blue stripes at left and right and blue graphic of an antique car at center[3] | ABC·123[3] | "ANTIGUO" is screened at the top of the plate and the municipality of issuance is embossed at the bottom of the plate. | |
 | Motorcycle | Motocicleta | black on yellow | ABC·12F (current); ABC·12 without letter and A to E (previous, still in use). | "COLOMBIA" is embossed at the bottom of the plate. | |
| | Auto rickshaw private | Mototaxi privado | black on yellow | 123·ABC | ||
| | Auto rickshaw commercial | Mototaxi commercial | black on white | 123·ABC | ||
| | Trailer | Remolque | white on green | R·12345 | ||
| | Tank truck | Carrotanque | white on red[2][3] | T·1234[2][3] | ||
| Diplomatic |  | Consular corps | Cuerpo consular | white on blue[2][3] | CC·1234[2][3] | |
 | Diplomatic corps | Cuerpo diplomático | A-Z country initials ·123 FE-Schrift | |||
 | International organization | Organización internacional | OI·1234 | |||
 | Non-diplomatic staff | Servicio Administrativo y Técnico | AT·1234 | |||
| Armed Forces | | Colombian Air Force | Fuerza Aérea Colombiana | yellow on black | FAC 123456 | |
 | National Police | Policía Nacional | green on white | 12-3456 | "COLOMBIA" is screened at the top of the plate and "POLICIA NACIONAL" is screened at the bottom of the plate. | |
Previous plate types
| Category | Image | Type | Years | Colors | Serial format | Legends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Spanish | ||||||
| Passenger |  | Private | Particular | 1972-1990 | white on black | A B 1234 | "COLOMBIA" is embossed at the bottom of the plate |
| | Commercial | Comercial | white on purple | ||||
| Non-passenger | | Official | Oficial | yellow on black | O A 1234 | ||