On the 2 first lines, these pictures have been taken in the week after the new SIV started, on april15, 2009.   W, WW and Transit plates can also be spotted. Only new (and imported) cars were registered through the SIV system until october 15, 2009, and then used cars were concerned too. The 2 first letters have switched from AA to AB on june 3rd, (see this page in french for the datations). This system applies to all 101 "départements", including Mayotte, the number appearing on the blue right band independantly from the official SIV registration.
See the new logos that appeared from 2014, especially for the 7 new larges regions created in 2016. Many unofficial stickers can also bee seen over the region logo.

The first issued on 15 april  2009 at 8:00 am. The second on the right one being issued for a Yamaha :	SIV on 2 lines, for Motorcycles and some 4WD	15 april issued in la Réunion  (photo Gwenael LM)
15 avril issue in Champagne Ard. (photo Vincent L)	15 april issue in Lorraine (photo  JEC)	15 april issue in Toulouse (photo Jean-François Zuraw)
Unofficial  sticker- Haute Savoie  (Yaute 74)	SIV Temporary, without region band  (a first photograph by Loic P.)	Authorized SIV on antique car
Unofficial sticker - Gendarmerie of Rochefort  (G.L)	SIV from frontier zone of Pays de Gex, ex TTW (Photo david Chevallay - Savoie - ex TTQ now displays 74)	SIV Provisory (Import / Export) starting with WW On Dec 3, 2014, WW-999-ZZ reached, then a second identical serie restarted with WW-001-AA
Official band : Guadeloupe 971	Mayotte 976 without logo, pending status  (P-E G.)	SIV Dealer, starting with a single W

The SIV system ("Système d'Immatriculation des Véhicules" in French) has finally started on April 15, 2009 and replaces most of the former plate systems called FNI. The normal passenger series (AA-000-AA format) includes many current series (see list below), provisional and dealer series. 

Front and rear plates now have a white background with compulsory Euroband and dashes between letters and digits. On a right blue band that isn't be a sticker, the owner of the vehicle have to display a local preference. The right band includes at the same time a regional logo over the digits of the department the owner wants to show (not necessarily the region/department where he lives). The region and the department number have to be consistent at the administrative level (see pictures below).
        - Passenger plates have a white background, as well as many other series too : official, most Paris fire brigade, Overseas departments (the four only from 971 to 974 and Mayotte 976 without logo before 2012), WW provisional, WxE and WxL export plates, and Agricultural plates (no different color),
        - Army plates are as the passenger plates, on a white background, without specific insignias, unofficial stickers have been seen a few times
        - Temporary plates (TT, IT, TTW, TTQ) are in the same format, on a red background, with an expiration date (if any) instead of the regional band on the right
        - Antique car plates have (as an option) a black background on original plates, without any blue band,
        - A few import/export plates, as the former WW1 plates are in a new SIV provisional series (WW-000-AA).

Relationship between département numbers and initial regional logos                                      Specific band for Mayotte in 2009

The 26 french regions in 2009 (without Mayotte)	The 18 Régions fin 2022                       (with Mayotte, but without d'Alsace)   by Yann Sciardis

The issuing sequence is as follows (all letters used except I, O and U) :
        - From AA-001-AA to AA-999-AA (digits first),
        - From AA-001-AB to AA-999-AZ (2nd right letter),
        - From AA-001-BA to AA-999-ZZ (1st right letter),
        - From AB-001-AA to AZ-999-ZZ (2nd left letter),
        - From BA-001-AA to ZZ-999-ZZ (1st left letter).

On the main french plates page all series have been sorted this way :
     - on the left, plate series replaced between april 15, 2009 and october 15, 2009, including W Garage that are in W-123-AB format
     - on the right, plate series that start or continue in 2009 : SIV, Diplomats, and FFA Forces.

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Photo Frédéric SÉGUY (SFPI)

From July 1st, 2004 to June 30, 2015, this SIV system has been already used for mopeds (less than 50 cm3 engine).   The A 000 A format was followed with the AA 000 A format, in september 2006. On June 30th, the highest registration has been DH-123-K and mopeds are now registred in the SIV system as other vehicles.     These numbers were not used : 100, 200, 300, etc. and 1 to 10.   Series S 000 S, T 000 T, W 000 W and AA 000 A have not been used.

One of the french articles about this project, written in 2003 :