Bundeswehr license plates differ in several respects from those of normal motorists: Not only are the license plates non-reflective and made in a different font – the identification letter on the far left is also not adapted to the respective place of residence. Instead, all Bundeswehr vehicles can be recognized by the code letter Y on the road.
There’s a simple, curious reason for this. When the Bundeswehr was founded in 1955, the aim was to create a simple license plate for all vehicles. However, useful abbreviations such as BW and all letters of the alphabet with the exception of X and Y were already taken. That is why the then Brigadier General Kurt Vogel decided in favor of the Y, like the ADAC writes.
Y stands for Bundeswehr – but what does the X stand for on some license plates?
The Bundeswehr license plates have a hyphen after the Y and usually six codes that can be freely assigned regardless of the type of troop or type of vehicle. Bundeswehr vehicles that were purchased in the USA only have three key figures after the Y. Inspectors from the army, navy and air force even have only one number – the inspector general of the Bundeswehr is on the road with the registration number “Y – 1”.
The only other letter that was not yet taken was the “X”. These letters were then assigned to NATO vehicles. The company vehicles of international headquarters in Germany can be recognized by this letter. There are significantly fewer of these vehicles in Germany than their Bundeswehr counterparts: only around 100 vehicles are on the road with the “X” on their license plates.