Guidance

Mascots and flags

Published 1 May 2010

© Crown copyright 2010

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mascots-and-flags-on-motor-vehicles/mascots-and-flags

Mascots

Regulation 53 of The Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986 No. 1078 does not provide for a complete prohibition on the fitting of mascots, etc, as it does provide for a derogation “… unless the mascot is not liable to cause injury to such person by reason of any projection thereon”.

Information concerning the requirements that new vehicles have to comply with can be found in European Directive 74/483/EEC, which has requirements concerning ‘ornaments’, which might help you to make a decision regarding whether a vehicle fitted with a particular mascot would be compliant with the regulations.

Further, whilst the presence of a mascot will not generally lead to an MOT failure this still does not mean that any such vehicle is in compliance with the regulations - as not all items are tested and we understand mascots are a non-testable item. However, you should confirm this with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

Flags

It is not a specific offence to fly a flag on a vehicle and the majority of vehicle flags currently on sale are legal, provided they are fitted to the vehicle in a sensible manner. However, it is worth noting the following points:

  • flags which are so large that they obscure the driver’s view of traffic ahead of the vehicle may contravene Regulation 30 of The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
  • flags which are constructed or positioned in such a way that they can cause danger to pedestrians or other road users could contravene Regulations 53 or 100 of the above regulations

Consolidated versions of National regulations can be found in Sweet and Maxwell’s Encyclopaedia of Road Traffic Law and Practice (Construction and Use)which should be available at most main reference libraries.

Copies of national regulations can also be purchased from:

TSO Orders/Post Cash Department
PO Box 29
Norwich
NR3 1GN

Telephone: 0870 600 5522
Fax: 0870 600 5533
Email: customer.services@tso.co.uk
Website: http://www.tso.co.uk

Directive 74/483/EEC may be downloaded free of charge from the European Commission website.

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