Types of number plates in Saudi Arabia

While roaming around on roads, you might have noticed that there are many different types of number plates in Saudi Arabia. Ever wonder what the color, English letters, Arabic letters, and digits on the number plate mean?

• How to replace a car number plate in Saudi Arabia?

Types of number plates in Saudi Arabia

There are 4 types of number plates in Saudi Arabia available in white, blue, yellow, and green color.

1. White Number Plate

The white number plate is assigned to private cars and hence it is the most common type of number plate in Saudi Arabia. 

Private cars are not allowed to be used for transportation as well as any other commercial purpose.

2. Yellow Number Plate

The yellow number plate tells you that this is a taxi that is allowed to take passengers from one place to another.

Moreover, the cars which are owned by private transportation companies such as Uber and Careem also have this type of number plate. Only vehicles with the yellow number plate are authorized to transport goods in Saudi Arabia.

3. Blue Number plate

Blue number represents commercial vehicles such as pickup cars, trucks,  and other heavy mobile equipment. 

4. Green Number plate

The green number plate is the least common type of number plate in Saudi Arabia as it represents that the vehicle is registered in the name of a consulate or embassy.

This is the reason you will hardly find traffic police stopping vehicles with a green number plate.

Content of a Saudi Number Plate

There are 5 parts of a Saudi Number plate that tells us everything about the car.

1. Arabic Letters

Your car is registered in the records of the traffic police with Arabic letters and Arabic digits. When traffic police charge you with a traffic violation, they note down the Arabic letters.

2. Arabic Digits

The second part of the number plate is Arabic Digits. This is exactly the same as English digits.

3. English Letters

The third part of the number plate is English letters. In fact, Arabic letters are converted to English letters to display on the number plates. If you want to translate a Saudi number plate from Arabic to English, use the following code;

Saudi plate number Arabic to English

• ا ~ A.
• ب ~ B.
• ح ~ J.
• د ~ D.
• ر ~ R.
• س ~ S.
• ص ~ X.
• ط ~ T.
• ع ~ E.
• ق ~ G.
• ك ~ K.
• ل ~ L.
• م ~ Z.
• ن ~ N.
• هـ ~ H.
• و ~ U.
• ى ~ V.

4. English Digits

The fourth part of the number plate is English digits. They are exactly the same numbers that are already written in the Arabic language.

5. The Color of the Number Plate

The fifth part of the Saudi Number plate is its colors which differentiates the purpose of the car. There are 4 types of number plates in Saudi Arabia as far as color is concerned (explained above).