Standard vehicle registration plates in Lithuania bear three letters and three numbers (e.g. ABC 123) in black lettering on a white background. The plates are usually of the standard EU dimensions, but can also be manufactured in the American dimensions for special import vehicles. All plates issued since 2004 also bear a blue EU identification stripe on their left-hand edge. Those issued between the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 and the country's accession to the European Union in 2004 bore a similar stripe with a small Lithuanian flag in place of the flag of Europe. Originally the license plates had a space in the middle for stickers; the stickers were discontinued after April 2018. A coat of arms of Lithuania to the right side of the EU stripe will be added to all newly-issued license plates in October 2023. Area designations Until 2004 the second of the three letters in each registration mark indicated the geographical administrative area in which the vehicle had been registered, as follows: Special types Temporary Vehicles issued temporary registration in Lithuania are noted by red alphanumeric characters on white background. Types Vehicles imported to Lithuania or vehicles exported from Lithuania As of July 2022, these plates are valid for up to 30 days. They can be re-issued to the same vehicle only after it has been issued standard license plates in the meantime. Vehicles sold by vehicle selling companies or organizations (professional or trade number plates) Plates issued since April 2018 start with the letter P followed boy five digits; the registration does not expire. Prior to that, numbers consisted of a letter (P or R) followed by four digits, a space and two more digits, the latter indicating the year of expiration. Diplomatic Corps Reserved and used by diplomatic corps. Plates have a green background and white characters; they do not have blue sidebar on the left side. The numbers are made up of six digits, grouped 01 3 123, with the first two digits denoting the embassy or other diplomatic or consular representation: Taxicabs Taxicabs have plates with white background and black text. The first letter is "T" (corresponds to the first letter of the word "taksi" in Lithuanian) and is followed by five numbers. Before the 3rd of April, 2018, taxi plates had a yellow background and black text, with the same number scheme. These plates continued to be valid and