Agricultural engine

The plates of agricultural engines do not belong to the vehicle, but are issued to the engine, as the name suggests, even if it was hang outside as a normal plate. They are given to farm workers so they could have a discount on agricultural gas for the vehicle, but I don't know if they are still used today, even if probably they are mounted on very little agricultural engines, like motor-hoes and motor-saws or fixed motors like pumps. For sure, their use was reduced after 1959 and I was told that duplicates haven't been issued since 1985.

The pictures below show in time order how these plates changed. The first plate has got on top the symbol of the "Confederazione Fascista degli Agricoltori" (C.F.A.) that is a rhombus with a rope around and a sword inside made with a ear (for the blade), with a fascio (for the handle) and with a bread. Under the coat of arms there are the letters "U.M.A." that stand for "Utenti Motori Agricoli" and then "Motore Agricolo" that means "Agricultural Engine". After the end of the Second World War the coat of arms was changed and after a while also the color changed and became darker (picture number 2). In the 1970s these plates changed again: the letters U.M.A. were removed and the seal of the Italian repubblic was inserted (picture number 3).

These plates are much smaller than normal plate and very light. Anyway they are not the only triangular Italian plate because also the first test plates had the same shape (until 1933).

UMA plate
Picture 1: 1935 (?) - 1945 (?)
UMA plate
Picture 2: 1945 (?) - 1970 (?)
UMA plate
Picture 3: 1970 (?) - Today (?)

I want to thank Edoardo Lecis for the first picture and Alessandro De Zuani for thepther two images, and Guglielmo Evangelista and Marcello Taverna for their help and explanations about the history of these plates.




Home