FE-Schrift
The FE- font (full name: fälschungserschwerende font ) is used as the font of the German license plates since 1994. It is strangely proportioned in comparison to conventional fonts and appear misshapen. For automated data collection, the characters must be preferred not proportional, which was not the case with the previous font DIN 1451. Thus, the difficulty of counterfeiting was only one aspect; the other is the machine readability of the text, that is, the ability to capture license plate by automatic number plate recognition and evaluate it.
Compared to the DIN font previously used, it is no longer so easy to make with black color, for example from a "P" "R" or a "3 " an "8": All the letters completely individual look that is not as usual derived from other letters (compare the letter "E" and "F " and the letter "O " with the number " 0", each of which has mostly identical basic forms ).
The FE- script was developed until 1980 under the impact of the terrorist activities of the RAF in 1978 by the Federal Highway Research Institute in order to impede the mark abuse. The design of the FE- font took over the renowned type designer Karl Georg Hoefer (1914-2000) on behalf of the Federal Agency. After reading and application testing, however, some of its original character shapes were modified.
On a license plate all signs of FE- font are 75 mm high. The letters are 47.5 mm wide, 44.5 mm digits. If there is insufficient space for the middle font, a Engschrift variant may be used. For smaller marks, such as those for motorcycles are used, there is only the thumbnail of appeal with character height 49 mm, whose letters (except " I") 31 mm and figures shall be 29 mm in width.
Other countries have taken the FE- font:
- Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates
- The autonomous monastic republic of Mount Athos
- The Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland
- Ethiopia
- Bahrain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Burundi
- Guatemala
- Cameroons
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Cuba
- Kuwait
- Malawi
- Malta
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Peru
- Rwanda
- Zambia
- Sierra Leone
- Zimbabwe
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- South Africa
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
Or a similar font developed (eg the Netherlands, Serbia, New Zealand).
Cuba
Malta
South Africa
Uruguay
Australia