Green, Yellow, Red: Which German Sticker Does Your Car Get?

The German environmental badge comes in three colours, but only the green one gets you into most low-emission zones. And you don't choose the colour — the emission class printed in your vehicle registration does.

Where to find your emission class

Look in your registration document for the emissions line: on EU papers it's field 14 or the notes on the back. You'll see something like 715/2007*692/2008B, or simply EURO 5. German authorities translate that code into their own classes 1 to 4.

How colours are assigned

Petrol cars with a catalytic converter from 1993 onwards (EURO 1 and up) go straight to green. Diesel is stricter: EURO 4 and newer get green, EURO 3 with a particulate filter also green, EURO 3 without a filter yellow, EURO 2 red. An old diesel without a converter gets nothing at all.

When green is out of reach

For EURO 3 diesels, retrofitting a particulate filter upgrades the colour — but it only pays off if you drive to Germany regularly. Otherwise plan a detour around the zone or use a park-and-ride lot on the outskirts.

Not sure which line to read? Photograph your registration and upload it at nemeckaplaketa.cz — the class gets checked for you. And if the scan needs shrinking or rotating first, FileTools does it free.