Standard vehicle registration plates in Lithuania bear three letters and three numbers (e.g. ABC 123) in black lettering on a white background. The plates are usually of the standard EU dimensions, but can also be manufactured in the American dimensions for special import vehicles. All plates issued since 2004 also bear a blue EU identification stripe on their left-hand edge. Those issued between the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 and the country's accession to the European Union in 2004 bore a similar stripe with a small Lithuanian flag in place of the EU's 12 golden stars.
Contents
Area designations
Until 2004 the second of the three letters in each registration mark indicated the geographical administrative area in which the vehicle had been registered, as follows:
Temporary
Vehicles issued temporary registration in Lithuania are noted by red alphanumeric characters on white background.
Types
Diplomatic Corps
Reserved and used by diplomatic corps. Have green background and white letters. The letters are grouped 01 3 123 and do not have blue sidebar on the left side of the plates. First two numbers denote embassy codes:
Taxicabs
Taxicabs have special plates, with yellow background and black text. The first letter is "T" (corresponds to the first letter of the word "taksi" in Lithuanian) and is followed by five numbers.
Military transport
Military transportation has black background and white text registration plates. They do not have side-field, only flag instead.
The technical check sticker
The registration plate has a special spot, usually between the letters and numbers but occasionally to the left of the letters, to attach a sticker certifying the compulsory biannual technical inspection to check for compliance with safety/emissions standards.
Confusion with Swedish plates
Lithuanian standard plates are almost identical to Swedish standard plates. The Stockholm congestion tax system uses automatic number plate recognition to identify plates, and this system can not distinguish between Swedish and Lithuanian plates. Non-Swedish cars do not have to pay this tax, but a Swedish owner will be charged if there is one with same number, which is likely. The false tax will be cancelled after a manual check if the owner complains. Swedish taxes must be paid on time anyway and will be refunded if there is an error.