2025 for Paris, the most populous French département. The SIV scheme started in 2004 for motorcycles with an engine capacity under 50 cc. However, these vehicles carry plates with fewer characters, such as AA-11-A. Due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the introduction of the new plates was postponed from 1 January 2009 until 15 April 2009 for all new cars. It was again postponed until 15 October 2009 for all other vehicles due to computer bugs in the SIV system. Colour and dimensions Registration plates issued after 2009 must be displayed in accordance with the 9 February 2009 Order (). They must be made of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and rear, with black non-reflecting characters. Characters may be displayed on one or two lines. The industry standard size number plate is or if it includes a horizontal cartouche to display information about the car dealer. The left side of the plate must contain a blue band with the letter F for France under the stars of the European flag. A similar band must be present on the right side to display a départment code and the symbol of the region where the is located. The positioning of the characters on the plate is fully regulated but there is no official typeface. The law provides guidelines: characters must be sans serif, monospaced and without any opening on closed characters. In some cases, colours may vary. Vehicles registered as classic cars can carry black plates with silver or white characters and without the blue bands on the sides. Vehicles in transit on French territory must carry a red plate with white characters. Instead of the regional code, the right hand band displays the expiry date of the plate. Vehicles purchased in the free trade zones of Gex and Savoie also carry red plates, but with the regional code. Diplomatic vehicles carry green plates with orange or white characters. Vehicles owned by the French Forces and Civilian Elements stationed in Germany (FFECSA) carry a pale blue plate with white characters. Motorcycles and mopeds have to display a rear plate. Motorcycle plates have the same colour and general design as the usual vehicle plates. Numbering Under the SIV system, registration plates contain seven alphanumeric characters: two letters, a dash, three numbers, a dash and two letters, such as AA-229-AA and no such series as AI-111-AA, AO-111-AA and AU-111-AA, The system is