Precis of an article in the Sunday Times on 4th July.
Now we are out of the EU it is illegal for us to display the ring of stars when travelling in the EU. It is legal for us to display a Union flag instead of the ring of stars: if Scots, Welsh, NI or Crown Dependencies want to display their own flag or country code they must also show a GB sticker.
HMG have notified the UN (who control these things) that we are changing from GB to UK (so as to be inclusive with NI and it will also apply to the other Crown Dependencies). We will legally be able to use UK from 28th September, and all UK vehicles travelling in the EU must display UK from the 1st January. As with GB the Scots, Welsh, NI and Crown Dependencies can show their own letters on the plate but must also display a UK sticker.
One thing that is common is that the flag on the plate MUST be a Union flag, nothing else is acceptable.
A good dig on eBay shows there are already plenty of self-adhesive blue sections to cover the end of the registration plate with a Union flag at the top and UK letters beneath. The catch of course for we caravanners is that we will need two packs as they come in pairs and we need one pair for the tug and half a pair for the caravan or trailer!
UK Crown Dependencies are the Isle of Man, and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey.