Are coloured 'crystal' number plates road legal?

You may have seen the latest trend in number plates, letters made from a coloured translucent acrylic below a gel layer. A variety of names have been assigned to this style of number plate; “4D neon”, “fluorescent”, “coloured 4D” and more. Some companies are claiming that these are road legal, and will pass an MOT, however this is not the case. Let us explain…

Vehicle number plate laws in the UK have strict standards which must be adhered to, to ensure the legality of a number plate. This includes spacing of the letters which is specified to the millimetre, the font of the characters, and even the reflective levels of the number plate.

Part of the laws is that the rear number plate must be a high reflective yellow, and the front plate must be a perfect white, conforming to the same reflective standards. Further to that, the characters on the registration must be black, which is where the legality of the coloured ‘4D crystal’ number plates comes into question.

These are illegal for use on the road and will not pass an MOT. You cannot have any colour other than white, yellow, or black on a number plate.

Some companies have been seen to falsely promote their 4D coloured crystal number plates as road legal, however this is not the case and could result in trouble with the Road Traffic Policing teams!

Everything we manufacture at Utopia Plates has been verified as fully road legal by the DVLA themselves upon visiting our premises. Give yourself peace of mind and order from us today.