Vehicle registration plates of Uruguay
Uruguay requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates.
Departmental coding
Plates issued in each department begin with a one-letter code. These codes, used on the unique local issues of the past, have carried over to the current national series as part of the standard nationwide format.| Department or entity | Code |
| Artigas Department | G |
| Canelones Department | A |
| Cerro Largo Department | E |
| Colonia Department | L |
| Durazno Department | Q |
| Flores Department | N |
| Florida Department | O |
| Lavalleja Department | P |
| Maldonado Department | B |
| Montevideo Department | S |
| Paysandú Department | I |
| Río Negro Department | J |
| Rivera Department | F |
| Rocha Department | C |
| Salto Department | H |
| San José Department | M |
| Soriano Department | K |
| Tacuarembó Department | R |
| Treinta y Tres Department | D |
Current series
Prior to the introduction of this series, plates issued in each department had a unique design, in many instances displaying only the name of the municipality, rather than that of the department or the country. The change echoes that made in Argentina in 1994 with the change to a national plate series displaying the nation's name rather than a more local designation.Under the current plate series, a single serial number format of ABC 1234 has been introduced for the entire country, with either the country name, the vehicle type, or both displayed on the plate. Now absent are department or municipality designations, except for the small official logos displayed on many plates, one between the letters and numbers indicating the department of registration and another in the lower right corner indicating the municipality of registration. Plates in the current series employ FE-Schrift for their serials.
Some older plates are still in use, but evidently they are being replaced with plates of the current series, as even many antique cars have plates from the current series.
Italicized letters indicate a departmental code; bold letters indicate a fixed type code that appears on all plates of a particular type:
Previous series
While also issued by department with the same codes, these plates employ varying designs, with unique plate sizes and shapes, dies, and color schemes and may identify the municipality of registration rather than the department itself. Many plates featured a white and blue color scheme.Italicized letters indicate a departmental code; bold letters indicate a fixed type code that appears on all plates of a particular type:
| Image | Location and/or type | Serial format | Design | Legend |
| Diplomatic | CC 123? | white on blue | ? | |
| National Navy | 123 | black on white; embossed anchor at center | "ARMADA" | |
| Public safety/government | MI 12-345 MI 123456 | black on white or blue on white; variety of manufacturing styles | none | |
| Artigas Department | GA-1234 | blue on white | "ARTIGAS"; "ROU" debossed in embossed box at left | |
| Canelones Department | ABC 123 | |||
| Caneloles Department—Official | A 1234 | white on blue | "OFICIAL URUGUAY" | |
| Cerro Largo Department—Melo city | EM-12345 | black on white | "CERRO LARGO" embossed at top; "ROU" embossed vertically at left; "MELO" embossed vertically at right; the small M below the hyphen also indicates the city | |
| Colonia Department | LA-1234 | blue on white | "COLONIA" debossed within embossed square that contains the "L"; "URUGUAY" at top. Some plates have a full-color seal, while others do not. | |
| Maldonado Department—Punta del Este city | B 51-234 B 512-345 | black on white | "PUNTA DEL ESTE" at bottom; first number signifies city | |
| Maldonado Department—San Carlos city | B 212-345 | black on white | "SAN CARLOS" at bottom; first number signifies city | |
| Río Negro Department—Fray Bentos city | JAB 123 | black on white | "FRAY BENTOS" at top, "RIO NEGRO" in orange band at bottom | |
| Salto Department | HA 123 | black on white; Salto logo at left | "SALTO" at bottom | |
| Soriano Department | K 12-3456 | blue on white | "SORIANO URUGUAY" at bottom |