Lesotho requires its residents to register their motor vehicles and display vehicle registration plates. Plates are blue-on-white for private vehicles and red-on-white for government vehicles. They follow the format of one or two letters followed by four numbers. Diplomatic Plates are blue-on-white however have the letters CD on them. A mokorotlo, the same colour as the characters on the plate, is stuck onto the plate to show a 5-year validity period. Dealer plates are also red-on-white but do not follow the A 1234 standard and do not show the mokorotlo. Before 1979, private plates were white-on-black and had an additional preceding 'L' which stood for Lesotho. Kingdom of Lesotho Period following independence: LA – Maseru LB – Butha Buthe LC – Leribe LD – Teyateyaneng LE – Mafeteng LF – Mohales Hoek LG – Quthing LH – Qacha's Nek LJ – Mokhotlong Government: LX – Government vehicles Diplomatic corps: Owing to a dispute between the foreign legations, several of them used distinctive codes for a period: UKHC – United Kingdom High Commission UNDP – United Nations Development Programme USA – United States of America WHO – World Health Organisation ROC – Republic of China (Taiwan) D – Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) The rest of the legations used DC. Colony of Basutoland Prior to independence: BA – Maseru BB – Butha Buthe BC – Leribe BD – Teyateyaneng BE – Mafeteng BF – Mohales Hoek BG – Quthing BH – Qacha's Nek BJ – Mokhotlong Government: BX – Government vehicles References World License Plates Holcroft's South African Calendar 1975, published by Vergne, Pretoria (for earlier codes). External links Lesotho Transport in Lesotho Lesotho transport-related lists