Vehicle registration plates of Costa Rica

Costa Rica requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates.^[1] The country has issued plates since at least 1923. The letters "CR" on plates into the early 1940s indicated the country name. The country name has been spelled out on the plates since at least 1944. In 1959 the legend "Centro America" [Central America] has appeared on the plates. Annual plates appear to have been issued through at least 1954. There were plates where the first two characters indicated what city the owner lived in. Multi-year base plates began to appear in 1955, but their use was not consistent until the mid-1960s. The current plate size is the North American standard of 6 × 12 inches (152 × 300 mm).^[2]

Early plates

First issued	Design	Slogan	Notes

1961	White numbers on a dark blue background	SJ-12345	SJ is a city code for San José. Note this plate appears to have been poorly repainted.

2013 Series

New license plates for all vehicle were issued starting in mid 2013 and continuing until completed in early 2015. The design of these plates included additional security features, such as a hologram at the left side, a security strip running across the plate, and additional elements that are now found throughout most countries.

Regular series plates

Regular Series of 2013 License Plates
Type	Serial format	Notes
Passenger Automobile	123456 ABC-123
Interprovincial bus	1234 12345
City and interurban bus	1234 12345
Commercial vehicle	123456
Commercial Limited Light Load Truck^[3]	123456
Disabled/Handicapped Driver	D-123 D-1234
Electric Vehicle	ABD-123	First available in 2019. Hybrid vehicles are excluded.
Motorcycle	123456
Taxi	1234 12345
City and Interurban Taxi	1234 12345
Historical Vehicle	12 123 1234