Vehicle registration plates of Namibia are yellow fluorescent metal plates with imprints in black. The standard version is uniform throughout the country, and carries one of the following forms:
N 1 A
N 1 AB
N 12 A
N 12 AB
N 123 A
N 123 AB
N 1234 A
N 1234 AB
N 12345 A
N 12345 AB
N 123-456 A
N 123-456 AB
The first letter is always "N" for Namibia. The last one or two letters indicate the town or region the car originates from. In between, numbers are issued sequentially within each region, starting with single-digit numbers, and increasing in length as required. The vast majority of vehicles are registered in the capital, Windhoek, and require six digits; most other regions currently use three or four digits.
Since 2007, personalised number plates are available at an extra fee. Such plates may carry up to seven alphanumerical characters, followed by the Namibian Flag and the letters NA. They also differ in color and material, the personalised plates are made from acrylic white plastic and have light blue characters.[1]
Government vehicles use dark green number plates with white imprints. As with ordinary number plates, numbers are issued sequentially within each region, starting with single-digit numbers, and increasing in length as required. The Government vehicle plates are prefixed with the following letters:
Walvis Bay, although legally part of the Cape Province, was long administered as part of South West Africa. During the 1980s it was returned to the Cape Province and used the code CWB. It then became part of Namibia.
Until 1968 South West Africa used a system of one- and two-letter codes without prefixes. W stood for Windhoek, L for Lüderitz, R for Rehoboth, Sd for Swakopmund, T for Tsumeb and Wb for Walvis Bay.[7]
The South African Defence Force also operated in South West Africa and used the same codes (U until 1961, and then R) as in South Africa.
South Africa's Bantu Trust also operated in South West Africa, its vehicles using the code BT, as in South Africa.