# What are the oval stickers on the back of cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019 "2003-05-13T19:18:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DiLLiGaF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@DiLLiGaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiLLiGaF)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/1 "2003-05-13T19:18:26Z")
I do not have much more to describe these stickers I see other than they are a white oval shape and usually have 3 letters in the sticker. I have seen quite a few of them on the back of SAAB’s and othe european cars and such but have also seen them on the back of a Jeep Cherokee. Are they some type of college alumni or what? While I am at it, what are the little green trees I see on the bumpers of cars? I see these stickers while driving and haven’t had the chance to ask someone in a parking lot what they are for. Just one of those things that I have wondered about and thought maybe some Dopers can fill me in. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/2 "2003-05-13T19:21:12Z")
I think that at one point in time, those white ovals with the letters stood for countries, indicating that you had visited that country and were proud of it. Now, just about everyone has one, so unless everyone got suddenly and inexplicably rich, I don’t know what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![SweetP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@SweetP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetP)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/3 "2003-05-13T19:24:53Z")
There are alot of oval stickers with the letters OBX in my neck of the woods, which stands for the Outer Banks in North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/4 "2003-05-13T19:29:10Z")
It means you’re a member of the Ovalteam! Oh, sorry. I thought we were talking about a certain chocolate drink mix. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/5 "2003-05-13T19:34:08Z")
They are always place-names. The two I saw constantly while on my Martha’s Vineyard vacation were MV and INK (Inkwell Beach). I was never sure if they were for tourists, or part of some parking permit thing. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/6 "2003-05-13T19:35:16Z")
Originally Europe used those ovals to identify what country a vehicle was from, since there is so much international car travel there. I don’t know if they were mandated by law or just a nicety. IIRC D was for Germany, CH for Switzerland, F for France, and so on. European license plates do not always identify the country or province or whatever, just the license number. Then I guess a lot of people thought they looked quaint so other people started using them with no particular official meaning, like SweetP’s example. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/7 "2003-05-13T19:42:43Z")
I see a lot of BiH ones here. I have _no freaking idea_ what they could mean. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/8 "2003-05-13T19:44:11Z")
The stickers originated in Europe, as a way of distinguishing the car’s country of origin. The two-to-three letter country codes are recognized by the United Nations in the 1949 and 1968 Conventions on Road Traffic. [Here’s the two-letter list of abbreviations.](http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html) [Here’s the three-letter list of abbreviations.](http://www.unece.org/trans/new_tir/handbook/french/meilpra.pdf) (PDF page 2) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/9 "2003-05-13T19:45:03Z")
Lor’ he’p us. The stickers originated as a way for countries to distinguish international traffic. The “official” stickers are recognized by the United Nations as listed in the “1968 Convention on Road Traffic and the 1949 Convention on Road Traffic.” In pre-EU Europe, the oval white stickers were used to clearly indicate the nation of registration of a given vehicle: GB for Great Britain, F for France, D for Deutschland, E for España, etc. EU has switched to blue stickers with a circle of stars (EU symbol) surrounding the letter(s). Anyone with the white stickers in Europe is driving an old car; anyone with either sticker in the U.S. is a pretentious twit, who insists that it be recognized that (a) he lives in a particular (yet none-too-distinguished-on its-own) area; (b) he has been “abroad,” and is displaying the symbol of the country that he visited or that he claims as his homeland; © his _car_ has been “abroad,” and was once registered there. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/10 "2003-05-13T19:53:30Z")
Ah, so it’s _Bosnia_! That makes sense - there are a lot of relocated Bosnian families here in Vermont. Thanks, **Attrayant**. The only thing I’ve been able to think it could mean before you enlightened me was ‘bi-human’! ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/11 "2003-05-13T20:44:44Z")
To try to answer the other half of your question: I’m not quite sure by what you mean by “little green trees” but around here (Atlanta) there are cars with green-leaf decals on their bumpers. These indicate that they are alternative fuel/low-emmission vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![DiLLiGaF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@DiLLiGaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiLLiGaF)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/12 "2003-05-13T20:58:57Z")
I had assumed the same thing with the tree sticker on the back of cars, till I saw one on the back of a Lincoln Town car and one on the back of a SUV. I still think the origin of the Green tree sticker is some kind of environmental org. Thanks for all the replies on the white oval stickers! I thought it might be something like that but didn’t know where to look. Thanks for the info and the links! ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/13 "2003-05-13T23:04:35Z")
And the white oval stickers have long since reached the “Baby on Board” level of ubiquity & meaninglessness. Here in California I’ve seen ones that say everything from LBC for Long Beach, CA to JIL for Jesus is Lord. (They often have their meaning spelled out in tiny print under the 3 letters) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/14 "2003-05-13T23:14:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Nametag wrote: > anyone with either sticker in the U.S. is a pretentious twit Amen! They’re usually on BMWs, Mercedes, or Volvos. Makes me want to reach behind me to the gun rack on my pick-up truck and shoot these little Euro-wannabes in the “arse”, as they would probably say. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-oval-stickers-on-the-back-of-cars/175019/15 "2003-05-13T23:44:13Z")
Yeah, that’s pretty much the level of ignorance-fighting we’re looking for. More than one person in this thread is in immediate danger of becoming an ex-member of this message board. They know who they are. Asked and answered.