In Sweden, vehicle registration plates () are used for most types of vehicles. They have three letters first, a space and two digits and one digit or letter after (e.g. ABC 123 or ABC 12A). The combination is mostly a random number and has no connection with a geographic location. The last digit is used to show what month the vehicle tax has to be paid, and before 2018 it was also used to show what month the car had to undergo vehicle inspection. Vehicles like police cars, fire trucks, public buses and trolley buses use the same type of plate as normal private cars and cannot be directly distinguished by the plate alone. Military vehicles have special plates. Part of the vehicle data is public and can be retrieved online. Ordinary plates Ordinary plates have black text on a white background. They consist of three letters first, a space, two digits and one more digit or letter. The space was formerly used for a taxation sticker, and on newer plates the space is narrower. Above it a manufacturer code and the vehicle identification number (VIN) are printed and above the last digit the date of plate manufacture is printed. All vehicles must legally carry both a front and a rear plate except for motorcycles, trailers (rear only), tractors and other off-road machinery (front only). The registration number is tied to the vehicle's VIN and remains unchanged, even after change of ownership, until the vehicle is scrapped or exported. It is possible to decommission a registered vehicle for any length of time. A decommissioned registered vehicle does not require road tax or a valid insurance. The registration plate remains on the vehicle while decommissioned. Registration numbers of scrapped, exported and de-registered vehicles are put in quarantine before they are re-used with new registered vehicles. Disallowed letters and combinations All letters in the Swedish alphabet are used, except the letters I, Q, V, Å, Ä and Ö. As of 2019 a letter may be used instead of the last number; this character also excludes the letter O so as not to risk confusion with 0 (zero). 91 additional letter combinations are not used since they may be offensive, political or otherwise unsuitable. Examples include: APA (monkey), ARG (angry), DUM (stupid, bad), FAN (devil, damn), FEG (cowardly), FEL (error, wrong), FUL (ugly), GAY (homosexual), HOT (threat), LAT (lazy), NRP (Nordiska Rikspartiet), OND