LICENSE PLATES ON LINE! .... Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)

Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)

INTERESTING FACT! Out of the hundreds of national/territorial PLATES ON LINE pages I run, this page consistenly gets more hits than any other! Thanks all....

NOTE - I'm getting plenty of useful info about Diego plates from former and current personnel stationed on DG. If you're there, and can send me some great photos of the types, described, please do - you will be credited fully. Also - I'm always looking for ACTUAL plates to add to my collection, and will buy or trade well for them. I'm ESPECIALLY interested in any issue that would have been used on a motorcycle. Just email me HERE - Drew the Webmaster, PL8S.COM

STATUS: British island territory.

WORLD LOCATION: Indian Ocean

FIRST LICENSE PLATES IN USE: Possibly from the 1960's.

MOTOR VEHICLES CURRENTLY REGISTERED: Unknown number of bicycles, trucks, motorcycles and cars are registered, mainly in the last 10 years of so. Bicycles have been registered for at least 30 years, although current information indicates that bikes may no longer use plates, although small stickers with a basic registration number are reported. The most recent bicycle sticker used has black characters on a yellow, high-strength vinyl sticker,with a "palm tree" logo to the left of the number.

PLATES ARE: Up until the 1980's, officially issued small sized metal bike plates were used, with DIEGO GARCIA spelled out, in a variety of colors. The first issue bike plate had DIEGO over GARCIA over the serial number. The colors for this issue were white on black, but later on, colors varied from plate batch to batch. Known colors are black, blue, dark blue, brown, red, green, yellow - always with white numbers.

A single known "Commanding Officer" plate is known, in gold on black, with the island name and the number CO-1. Little information is available about this issue (see photo album section below).

As of 1/12/02 - another "number 1" BIOT plate has surfaced (photo below) - I believe this is an updated version of the gold/black CO-1 plate, probably a reserved series plate from the car of the commanding officer.

Updated information as of 3/8/04 - I received a letter from someone recently stationed on Diego Garcia, and the following info has been added:

CIVILIAN / CONTRACTOR vehicles use standard sized flat steel plates, white with BLUE characters.

BRITISH CITIZENS, CONTRACTORS and others under U.K. jurisdiction also use flat steel plates, but are white with RED characters.

NAVY VEHICLES now use BLUE plates with WHITE characters. The plates designated the operators of the vehicle, along with a simple serial number. The number was for commands with more than one vehicle in use. The same number found on the plate was also used on the front doors of the vehicle, and on the back end of the vehicle, in self-adhesive, reflective numbers, with the words "US NAVY", and "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY".

AIRFIELD VEHICLES had similar plates, but with the name of the Air Field on the plate, instead of a serial number.

All of these plates were flat steel, and stencilled or hand painted with "marine primer" paint, designed to resist the salt air and moisture of the tropical island.

Thanks to "axelrajr" for this updated information.

Header plate photo from the PL8S Magazine archive.

	Chief Commanding Officer's plate - Military forces on Diego Garcia - gold on black, printed thick plexiglass. Probably 1960's vintage. From an old collection, from the PL8S.COM photo archive.
	Commanding Officer's plate - most likely 1990's vintage, red on white stencilled steel. Received directly from BIOT by collector Bill Phillips. Looks to be about 6 x 12 standard size, and probably the same type of plate is the issue shown above. Updated info - judging from current color code info, this may be a commanding officer's plate from the British military, as they use red numbers on their plates.
	Former series bicycle issue - embossed steel, white on red - approx. 2 x 4 inches in size. From the PL8S.COM archive.
	Former series bicycle issue - embossed steel, white on blue- approx. 2 x 4 inches in size. From the eBay photo archive.
	Former series bicycle issue - embossed steel, white on black - approx. 2 x 4 inches in size. From the PL8S.COM archive.
	Recent issue BIOT plates, shown drying at the manufacturer's location - There are now a wide variety of different issue, mostly simple coded plates like the one's shown here. I believe this photo is courtesy of Bill Phillips, as well as the one below. The plates are flat steel, in dark blue on white - standard 6 x 12 size.
	Headquarters Military Airlift Command - Here's a slick plate that a former military man stationed on BIOT/Diego Garcia sent. Looks like stencilled flat metal, white on Air Force blue - sharp! Photo courtesy of Bill Phillips.
	First issue bicycle issue - a clear photo of the number 10 issue, white on black, embossed steel - former Drew Steitz collection.
	First issue bicycle issue - white on black embossed steel, probably 1960s vintage. PL8S.COM archive.

PL8S.COM Main Page | PL8S.COM Classified Ad Page | PL8S Magazine Info | Drew's License Plates for Sale

License Plates of North America | License Plates of South America | License Plates of Europe | License Plates of Asia

License Plates of Africa | License Plates of the Middle East | License Plates of Islands of the World

License Plate Collecting Clubs and Publications | Frequently Asked Questions | Photo Guide to Plate Grading

Directory of On-Line License Plate Collectors | Links to other License Plate Sites | License Plate Meets Calendar

Glossary of License Plate Collecting Terms and Abbreviations | Diplomatic/Govt. Codes | DMV Information

Drew's Coke Bottles of the World Page | East Texas Info Page | Drew's Cartoon Page | Email the Editor

Find License Plates Frames & license plate holders.
See the Old license plates. com official home page.