Vehicle registration plates of Italy

The Italian vehicle registration plates (Italian: targhe d'immatricolazione or, simply, targhe) are the compulsory alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of motor vehicles registered in Italy. They have existed in the country since 1897.

By law, Italian plates can only be made by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, assigned by the territorial offices of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and permanently attached to a single vehicle from its first registration to its disposal.

The current alphanumeric serial code AA·111AA was introduced on 28 February 1994 and consists of seven black characters on a rectangular, or squared, white background with a defined format (2 letters, 3 numbers, and then 2 letters) which is issued nationwide, regardless of the local registration office. Starting from 7 February 1999, this format was slightly redesigned adding a blue strip on the left containing the EU flag above the country code I in order to comply with the common EU format, removing the previous space between the last number and the third letter, and adding a further blue strip on the right for optional stickers of the first registration year and of the provincial code.