Following a Freedom of Information request by personalised plate supplier Regtransfers the DVLA have released the full list of number plates set to be banned from the first registration series to be issued in 2026.

The new ’26’ registrations will arrive on the UK’s roads from 1st March, but character combinations considered offensive, provocative or otherwise unsuitable for release are being withheld by the DVLA.

This is standard practice for each release; in September 2024, 210 character combinations were banned from the ’25’ plates, and earlier this year 436 combinations were confirmed as withheld from the forthcoming ’76’ release.

Banned combinations typically contain references to crime, violence, religion, sex, sexual and gender identity, weapons, insults, racism, sexism and more.

This latest list of banned plates from the ‘26’ series contains 403 character combinations, with a number containing the “wildcard” asterisk character. This “wildcard” means that no matter which letter or digit appears in the position marked by the asterisk, the resulting combination will be withheld.

A number of troublesome combinations appears, from explicit entries like FU26 KER, AS26 HOL and SC26 TUM to slurs like TR26 NNY, LE26 ZER and FA26 OTT.

Violence, war and other political matters also feature in the list, with TE26 ROR and GO26 WAR appearing, as well as JE26 HAD – which reads similarly to “Jihad”.

Once again, plates with featuring both UKR and RUS combinations have been banned, as well as a number of *26 OMB (“bomb”) variants.

In general, the DVLA will err on the side of caution; the potential meaning behind a plate doesn’t need to be obvious in order to be banned – even a slight resemblance to an offensive term may be enough to trigger removal from a series.

Commenting on the released information, Regtransfers CEO Mark Trimbee states:

“Out of professional curiosity, we’ve been keeping an eye on the DVLA’s banned plate combinations, and while each new list contains an expected range of rude words, body parts and so on, there are also particular censored combinations that can be quite telling of the current sociopolitical climate.

“Number plates aren’t deliberately arranged to spell out words, but the human brain has a particular knack for pattern recognition. This is what makes certain plate combinations fun, appealing and valuable, but it’s also why a random mix of characters can appear offensive – extremely so in some cases – and why the DVLA will likely always have to work to censor certain arrangements.

“Some might see it as unnecessary overkill, others will see it as a necessity to safeguard communities. Ultimately, as with each new release, there will still be plenty of great combinations to look out for on the UK’s roads.”

ENDS

About the Data + Editor notes

Data sourced via Freedom Of Information Request issued by Regtransfers to the DVLA. The full list of banned ‘26’ plates can be viewed here. You are welcome to copy the list of plates for publishing purposes, however please do not share direct access to this document in the public domain.

About Regtransfers

Regtransfers, the UK’s leading private number plate supplier, has over four decades of industry expertise. Established in 1982 by Tony Brown, the company is officially registered with the DVLA and offers an extensive selection of over 50 million personalised registration plates.

Contact

For further information or to request data, please contact: luke@brick-digital.co.uk

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