South America

Colombian private license plates are short with yellow background.

Unlike Israeli or European plates, Colombian plates do not have a blue band or dot. Israeli plates can also be long.

Pay Attention to Contractions

• If you see do, da, no, na, dos, das → Portuguese
• If you see del, de la, de los, de las → Spanish

Quick visual giveaway

• If it look like Spanish but has a lot of ã, õ, ç, lh, nh, or contractions like “do/da/no/na” → Portuguese.
• If it has ñ, ll, del, de la, de los, muchas palabras con j (trabajo, lejos) → Spanish.

Shape: Rectangle

Material: Metal

Color: White

White stone rectangle

Sometimes with yellow/white painted side or rectangle reflector near the top

Shape: Cylinder (round)

Material: Concrete

Cars: Four-door hatchbacks or sedans

Color: Pale yellow color

Additional licence plate: License number on the side doors and on the roof

Markings: Black numbers near above or under fuel tank. Usually in this format: x.xxxxx like 3.111111

Taxi roof sign: Extremely small white with black text

Shape: Cylinder or rectangle

Material: Concrete or metal or wood

Color: White-and-black stripes or sometimes black-and-yellow

Shape: Rectangle

Material: Wood

Color: White

Additional details: Four rectangular holes on the rear side

Triangular concrete bollard. Common variants

• Yellow-painted top
• Painted red reflector

Camera: Generation 4

Car: Pickup truck

Color: White

Visibility: Blurred

Small rectangle slots on top of sign posts before traffic sign

Camera: Generation 3

Car: Regular blurred car

Color: White

Antenna: Short black antenna on the rear of the car

Format: Standart licence plate number with city name (Bogota here) under it

Shape: Circle

Color: White background with red border

Text: Extremely bold black digits, sometimes with km/h under them

Shape: Two or three cylinders connected

Material: Concrete

Look for blue water tanks in Brazil.

• Location: They are often on special water towers or building roofs.

• Shape: These tanks have a distinctive short and wide form with white words are usually printed on them

Shape: Rectangle thin poles, sometimes U shape (with hole inside)

Material: Metal

Color: No paint

Color: White bottom paint sometimes with Paraguay flag

Shape: Triangular prism (three-sided pillar)

Material: Stone / concrete

Color / paint:

• Top and bottom are fully! painted.
• Middle section is white.
• Painted parts can be dark green, light green, or green-brown

Text: Large, bold numbers. Usually includes the letter “K”

Shape: Cylinder

Material: Metal

Additional details: Yellow sticker near traffic sign

Camera: Generation 4

Car: Pickup track

Color: White

Visibility: Can be also partly blurred

Flat top white metal cylinder with two red stripes near the top.

Sometimes just two red one-side rectangles

Sometimes you can find a black-and-white circle with this highway shield on the back of road signs. It can also be a white sticker. With current Street View cameras, it is impossible to read the information on them, but their presence is helpful.

This print/sticker is unique to Chile.

White concrete with diagonal cut top.

Reflectors are two big red rectangles inside black angled frames on one side, on another white reflectors

Rounded plastic bollard with yellow top

Red-and-white reflector instead of yellow top is possible

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: Black

Text: White

Additional details: Old design. Visible fully black or like a big black dot in the center

Background: Black

Arrows: Bold yellow

Other Variants: Extremely rare yellow background with bold black arrows

Bolivia (+591)

• Total Length: Fixed at 8 digits (excluding the country code).
• Mobile Numbers: Always start with 6 or 7 (e.g., +591 7XXX XXXX).
• Landline Numbers: Start with a 1-digit area code followed by a 7-digit local number.

Other info:

• Usually 2 numbers used together separated by ~

Shape: Cylindrical/rounded top post

Material: Concrete

Color: White with black text and painted black bottom

Text: Two digits on top between two black horizontal lines, four digits below.

Pro tip: In the lower 4-digit number, the first two digits (e.g., “65” or “90”) indicate the highway number, and the last two digits show the specific section (e.g., '13')

Argentina (+54)

• BUT usually used without this +54 code
• Total Length: Fixed at 10 digits (excluding the country code).

Other info:

• Toll-Free Prefix 0800

Shape: Vertical rectangle

Color: Primarily white background with a black stripe at the top

Text: White “Km” text at the top and vertically arranged digits below

Additional: Mounted on a small metal post near the roadside

Camera: Generation 4

Color: Black/dark blue

Car: Pickup car

Antenna: No/Not visible

Chile (+56)

• Total Length: Fixed length of 9 digits for all numbers
• Mobile Numbers: Always start with 9 followed by 8 digits (e.g., +56 9 XXXX XXXX).
• Landline Numbers: Start with an area code (e.g., 2 for Santiago) followed by the rest of the digits to total 9! Always 9!

Other info:

• Toll free prefix 800

Camera: Generation 4

Color: White

Car: Pickup car

Antenna: Two black in the center of the roof

Camera: Generation 4

Color: White/silver

Car: Pickup car

Additional details (unique): Hole in the roof

Camera: Generation 4

Color: White/silver

Car: Pickup car

Antenna: Black in the center of the roof

Additional details (unique): Hole in the roof

Domain: .uy

Domain: .ar

Shape: Horizontal or vertical small rectangle

Color: White

Camera: Generation 4

Color: Black/dark blue

Car: Pickup car

Antenna: Black in the center of the roof

Mobile number structure: 09 + 8-digit number

Cars: Four-door hatchbacks or sedans

Color: Yellow color

Markings: Black printing marking/licence plate on the side doors. Modern street view show white-and-red stripes/stickers near fuel tank.

Small number near front lights. Sometimes in a black circle and sometimes fully customizable

Taxi roof sign: White/green-white-red/blue with black text

Roof marking: Big black letters

Shape: shield-shape with five edges

• Top center point: The highest peak of the shield's upper curve.
• Two upper "shoulders": Points where the top curve meets the straight vertical sides.
• Two lower "shoulders": Points where the straight vertical sides curve inward towards the bottom point.

Shape: Triangular prism (three-sided pillar)

Material: Stone / concrete

Color / paint:

• Top is not fully (!) painted
• The “roof” is usually white
• Bottom is often unpainted (sometimes partially painted)
• Middle section is white

Text:

• Numbers are not bold
• May include one or more province letters
• The letter “K” is also possible

Other:
Can appear in black, green, red, or other colors

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible with thin black line

Color: White

Format: Standart licence plate number with department name (Caldas here) under it

Shape: Rectangular sign with rounded corners

Material: Metal

Color: Green with white text and white border. White with black text is also possible

Text: "Pr" at top, two digits stacked vertically in middle (4 and 8), four digits in white box at bottom (9009)

Shape: Thin rectangles

Color: Red-and-white diagonal stripes

Camera: Shitcam

Car: Visible front of the regular car with orange logo

Color: White

Domain: .cl

Domain: .pe

Type: Commercial (New design)

Shape: Short or long

Background: White with orange stripe on the top

Text: Black

Shape: Rectangle

Color: Green top and bottom with white background. Rear side is no color

Text: Black 'km' on the top, big black digits under this text

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: Black

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: White

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text:*Blue

Shape: Square rectangle column

Material: Concrete

Holes: A big number of small 'ladder' holes

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Additional details: Blue strip on the top

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Additional details: Blue strip on the top

Shape: Horizontal bars

Material:Concrete

Concrete ladder-style. Ladder-style slots run from the bottom of the pole to the middle section

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Type: Private

Shape: Long

Background: White

Text: Black

Camera: Generation 4

Car: Visible front of the regular car

Color: Black

Colombian road signs often have a distinctive cross-shaped reinforcement on their back.

Construction: This cross is formed by a horizontal bar and a vertical pole, strengthening the sign.

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The front of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Blue

Shape: Square rectangle column

Material: Concrete

Holes: Rare and long 'ladder' holes and small round holes on the top

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Additional details: Blue strip on the top

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The front of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Blue

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Additional details: Blue strip on the top

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: White with red color around antenna

Antenna: Short black antenna with diagonal line

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The rear of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Grey/silver

Shape: Octagonal

Material: Concrete

Holes: Small circle holes on the top

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The front of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Blue

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The front of the car is visibly blurred

Color: White-blue-white

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: Black

Chilean concrete utility poles are often square or rectangular. They feature vertical slots on both sides.

Details: Look for small circular holes near the top of the pole.

Brazilian poles have long ladders instead of slots

Camera: Generation 4

Visibility: The front of the usual car is visible

Color: White

Shape: Rectangle

Material: Wood or concrete

Color: White, black-and-white, yellow, no color and etc.

Background: Yellow

Arrows: Bold black

Additional details: Almost always on unpainted metal poles

Shape: Square

Color: White background

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: White

Shape: Cylinder

Material: Wood

Shape: Cylinder (round)

Material: Concrete

Holes: Small circle holes near the top

Shape: Wide cylinder or tapered cylindrical container (wider at the top, narrower at the bottom)

Color: Blue or black

Placement: On the roofs or on the special concrete platforms

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The front of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Grey/silver

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The rear of the car is visibly blurred

Color: White

Background: Yellow

Arrows: Bold black

Additional details: Almost always on white metal poles. Sometimes with black numbers

Shape: Rectangular ladder-style. Ladder-style slots run from the bottom of the pole to the middle section

Material: Concrete

Camera Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: White with red color around rear side

Red-and-white striped reflectors/stickers attached to commercial vehicles

Shape: Horizontal plastic rectangle

Attachment: Attached around the pole under transformers

Color: Yellow

Text: Black digits

Color: Black-and-yellow or black-and-orange stripes on octagonal poles

Similar markings can be found in Ecuador or Peru but they dont use octagonal poles shape

Concrete road blocks are common

Instead of using chevrons they paint center of guardrails in black-and-yellow stripes

Shape: Cylinder (round)

Material: Concrete

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The rear of the car is visibly blurred

Color: Blue

Shape: Round

Material: Concrete

Top: Pointed (!) or flat

Yellow paint with black text

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: Black

Shape: Cylinder

Material: Concrete

Holes: Small circle holes near the top

Cross-shaped rear reinforcement on the back of the sign (horizontal bar + vertical pole)

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Shape: Square with rounded corners

Color: White background with thin black rounded border and red circle

Text: Black speed limit digits inside red circle on white background. Sometimes you can find municipality info in the bottom section

Type: Type-A

Additional details: Two-level(upper and lower rails)

Shape: Vertical rectangle

Color: Yellow

Text: Black text

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background sometimes with white border

Text: Bold white 'PARE'

Camera: Generation 4

Car: The rear of the car is visibly blurred

Color: White

Color: Black-and-yellow/yellow or any color

Shape: Rectangle

Color: Green background with white rectangle/rounded thin border

Text: White text with big white arrow

Additional details: In rural areas

Type: Commercial (Taxi)

Shape: Long or short

Background: Yellow

Text: Black

Camera: Generation 3

Antenna: Short black straight backside

Cylinder white metal with red rectangle near the top on the front side, on the rear side white

Shape: Circle

Color: White background with thick red border

Text: Thick or thin black numbers

Type: Commercial

Shape: Short

Background: Yellow

Text: Black

Danger sign on black background with yellow triangle

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Camera: Generation 4

Color: White/silver

Car: Pickup car

Type:Small camera (big blur)

Camera: Generation 3

Color: Black with red blur around antenna

Antenna: Short black antenna

Shape: Rectangle

Color: Green background with rounded border, sometimes with white thin border

Text: White 'km' on the top, big white digits under this text

Background: Yellow

Arrows: Bold black

Camera: Generation 3

Visibility: The rear of the usual car is visible

Color: White

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Shape: Inverted triangle

Color: White background with red border

Text: Black text 'CEDA EL PASO'

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red with white border sometimes

Text: Bold white 'PARE'

Shape: Inverted triangle

Color: Thick red border and white background

Type: Commercial and buses

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Type: Commercial

Shape: Long

Background: Yellow/orange

Text: Black

Type: Small camera (big blur)

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Shape: Thin rectangle on a metal pole

Color: Black-and-yellow diagonal stripes

Shape: Vertical rectangle. Usually with rounded border and thick

Color: Red-and-white diagonal stripes

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Instead of using chevron they paint guardrails in yellow-black pattern.

They always start and end with the yellow color

Type: Private

Shape: Long

Background: White

Text: Black

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Type: Private

Shape: Long or short

Background: White

Text: Black

Shape: Cylinder with flat top

Color: Yellow

Material: Plastic

Reflector: Grey wide stripes

Type: Commercial

Shape: Short or long

Background: Orange

Text: Black

Shape: A-frame cylinders

Material: Wood

Background: Yellow

Arrows: Bold black

Additional details: Only in cities

Shitcam coverage with big blur and poor camera quality

Fences in rural areas use wooden poles

Type: Commercial - trailers, semi-trailers, and heavy container trucks

Shape: Short

Background: Green

Text: Black

Type: Commercial

Shape: Long or short

Background: White (old variants red)

Text: Red (old variants white)

Additional details: Blue strip on the top

Shape: Octagonal

Color: Red background, with or without white border

Text: White 'PARE' text

Shape: Horizontal bars

Material: Concrete