Regtransfers reveals the number plates DVLA will ban in 2026

DVLA data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request by Regtransfers, shows the full list of number plates that will be banned from the first registration series to be issued in 2026.

The new '26' registrations will be displayed on cars from 1st March, but many character combinations are being withheld by DVLA because they may be considered offensive, provocative or otherwise unsuitable for release.

DVLA's list contains 403 suppressed registration character combinations. Among the controversial words and messages that may be perceived in the character combinations are references to crime, violence, religion, sex, sexual and gender identity, weapons, insults, racism, sexism and more.

Routine process

Of course, this is nothing new. Every time a new registration series is released, the DVLA's censorship machine tries to spot problematic combinations before the public does and thus remove as many potential causes for complaint as possible.

In September 2024, we reported that 210 character combinations would be censored and removed from the first 2025 registration series, the '25' plates. In April 2025, we revealed that a further 436 combinations would be withheld from the forthcoming '76' release. In total, 646 character strings were banned from issue in 2025.

More than 403

DVLA's new list contains 403 combinations. However, as usual, several of those combinations contain the "wildcard" asterisk character. The wildcard character means that no matter which letter or digit appears in the position marked by the asterisk, the resulting combination will be withheld.

For example, the asterisk in the censored combination *B26 OMB indicates that all registrations ending in B26 OMB will be banned from issue, no matter which character may occur before the first 'B'; so, AB26 OMB would be banned, as would GB26 OMB and so on. In this example, the censorship is probably because either the first 'B' or the digit '6', in combination with the letters 'OMB' may appear to spell "bomb".

This use of wildcard characters means that the total number of registrations withheld from the '26' release will actually be considerably higher than 403.

What's banned and why?

DVLA seems to err on the side of caution. The potential meaning in a character string doesn't necessarily have to be very obvious in order to be banned, and even a superficial resemblance may be enough to trigger removal from a series.

Of course, this means that it can be difficult to divine the reason for removal in many cases. As one reads down the list of withheld numbers, it should be expected that a fair number of the entries will seem baffling. Some of the misspellings and otherwise imperfect renderings of words and messages may seem almost indecipherable.

Let's pick a random block or entries from the lists and see what stands out and what baffles.

• HE26 ULA
• HH26 ASD
• HH26 OMB
• HH26 OMO
• HH26 WAR
• JE26 HAD
• JJ26 HAD
• JU26 ANG
• JU26 CMP

It seems likely that HH26 OMB is included because the last four characters resemble the word "bomb", as with the wildcard example, *B26 OMB, that we saw above.

HH26 OMO is probably being withheld due to a fairly weak resemblance to a homophobic slur. Remember, DVLA errs on the side of caution.

HH26 WAR contains the word "war", and JE26 HAD may resemble the Arabic word "jihad", which is commonly associated with religious conflict.

In JU26 ANG, DVLA seems to have interpreted the digit '6' as a 'G', thus allowing the last four characters to spell "gang".

Those are the most obvious to us. What meanings, if any, did you see in the others?

Moving goal posts

In our article about 2025's banned '75' plates we pointed out the following, which remains as true as ever.

Shifting attitudes and perceptions mean that some terms once seen as harmless or trivial are now considered insensitive or insulting. The severity of ableist, sexual and racial slurs changes as society changes, but also as language itself changes. DVLA has to try to balance all these considerations, and more, when compiling the list of combinations that will be excluded from release.

Eye of the beholder

Car registration number plates don't deliberately spell words or messages. They're intended to be a way of identifying cars and that's all. The numbers and letters are just codes that identify when and where a registration number was first issued. There is no additional intended meaning.

However, the human eye and brain have a peculiar talent for spotting patterns, even where no deliberate pattern exists. We see castles in clouds, faces in the scorch marks on burnt toast and many more things that aren't really there. We can recognise words, even when they are misspelled or letters are left out, and we can perceive numbers as letters if doing so allows us to make a word out of a car registration number.

This is, of course, what makes private number plates work. Without human beings' strange talent for spotting patterns and resemblances, our shared interest and hobby couldn't exist.

But that knack is also what enables people to perceive a string of random characters as an insult and to take offence. It is why, as long as registration numbers are issued, DVLA will probably have to censor them.

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