Diplomatic license plates are issued by the host state's foreign ministry or motor vehicle authority to vehicles owned by accredited diplomatic missions, consular posts, and certain international organizations. They serve as a visible marker of the vehicle's protected status under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), particularly Article 22 (inviolability of mission premises and means of transport) and Article 31 (immunity from jurisdiction).
Formats vary by host country but typically encode three pieces of information: the sending country, the rank of the user, and the type of mission. In the United States, the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions issues plates with a two-letter country code, with prefixes such as D (diplomatic), C (consular), S (non-diplomatic staff), and A (administrative/technical). In the United Kingdom, plates carry a three-digit country code followed by D for diplomats or X for consular staff. France uses green CD (corps diplomatique) and CMD plates with orange numerals.
The plates do not themselves confer immunity — immunity attaches to the individual based on accreditation — but they signal to traffic police and customs officers that the vehicle should not be searched, ticketed in the ordinary way, or impounded. Parking and traffic violations are typically logged and forwarded to the foreign ministry, which may pressure the mission to pay or, in egregious cases, request waiver of immunity or declare the diplomat persona non grata.
Unpaid fines are a recurring irritant in host-mission relations; New York City has periodically published lists of mission debts owed to the city. Host states retain the right to withdraw plates when a diplomat's accreditation ends, and misuse by family members or non-accredited drivers can trigger diplomatic protests.
Example
In 2023, New York City reported that foreign missions collectively owed millions of dollars in unpaid parking tickets accrued by vehicles bearing diplomatic plates issued by the U.S. State Department.