DGT environmental badges: which one is yours and where to buy it 🍃

Quick answer: The DGT classifies vehicles into 4 badges: blue 0 (EVs and PHEVs ≥40 km), ECO (hybrids, LPG/CNG), green C (petrol registered from 2006, diesel from 2014) and yellow B (petrol 2001–2005, diesel 2006–2013). Older vehicles get no badge — and they're the ones barred from low-emission zones. The sticker costs about €5 at Correos (bring the registration document) and displaying it is compulsory where the zone requires it: circulating without proof can cost €200.

The environmental badge went from optional sticker to the key that decides whether you may enter your own city centre. And because classification follows registration dates and Euro standards — not common sense — there are «new» cars stuck with a B badge and none at all. This guide tells you which is yours, where to buy it for €5, and what happens if you drive badge-less through a low-emission zone.

The badge table (find yourself) 🎨

The badge follows registration date and Euro standard, not how «clean» the car looks. Check officially by entering your plate in the DGT's lookup on dgt.es — borderline 2006 cars can swing between B and C depending on month and homologation.

Where to buy it and where it goes 📮

Correos is the main channel: any post office, ~€5, showing the vehicle's registration document (they also sell online with delivery). Authorized workshops and agents issue it too. It sticks to the lower-right corner of the windscreen (or visibly on a motorbike). It isn't compulsory «in general» — it is wherever an LEZ ordinance requires it to circulate or park, which in practice means: entering big cities, carry it.

Classic traps ⚠️

Buying «badges» on unofficial sites at €15–30: you pay triple for the same thing or for a fake. Another car's sticker: the badge is tied to the plate — using someone else's is sanctionable. «My car is old but small»: irrelevant, the Euro standard decides. The concrete access rules for Madrid, Barcelona and the rest are in the low-emission zones guide — and badge questions now appear in the theory test: practise them on TraficoTest.

Borderline cases that cause doubts (solved) 🧩

Late-2005 petrol: registered December 2005 is a B even if the model «looks identical» to January 2006 — registration date rules.

2014 diesels: the C starts with September 2014 registrations (Euro 6); a March 2014 diesel stays B.

Imports: the badge follows the first Spanish registration and the recorded Euro homologation — a 2010 Japanese car imported in 2024 doesn't become a C by import year.

Mild hybrids: not ECO by default; it depends on homologation. Always check by plate on dgt.es before buying used — it's free and prevents four-figure surprises.

Conclusion 🏁

The right badge costs €5 and five minutes at Correos; the wrong one — or none — costs €200 every time a camera catches you where you shouldn't be. Check it, stick it, and cross-reference your city's rules in the low-emission zones guide. And yes: badges are now exam material — practise them on TraficoTest.