Quick answer
RTA vehicle branding design guidelines, now applied by Mada Media, check five things: the content matches your trade licence and licensed name, text is in Arabic and English only with Arabic given at least equal weight, the windscreen, front glass, lights and plates stay clear, images stay within the limits (the last published terms allowed five per side, no 3D effects or real people), and nothing is offensive or misleading.
Key takeaways
- Everything on the vehicle must match an activity on your trade licence and the name exactly as licensed.
- Plan for Arabic as at least half of the advertising content, in correct, human-written Arabic.
- Keep the windscreen, the upper front of the vehicle, front windows, lights and plates free of graphics.
- Count your images: the last published terms allowed five per side, with no 3D illusions, real people, flags or religious symbols.
On this page (9 sections)
- Where the design rules come from now
- Rule 1: the advert must match your licence and your name
- Rule 2: Arabic and English, and Arabic gets real space
- Rule 3: keep glass, lights and plates clear
- Rule 4: images, effects and content that will not pass
- Rule 5: QR codes, barcodes and social handles
- A pre-submission check you can run yourself
- Frequently asked questions
- Want your artwork checked before you submit?
Most vehicle designs that come back from review are not bad designs. They are good designs that broke a rule nobody told the designer about: a photo of the founder on the side panel, an English-only slogan, a tagline that wraps onto the front windows. Each one is a quick fix on screen and an expensive one if the vinyl is already printed.
We design branding for vans, pickups and company cars every week, and every layout is checked against the permit rules before it becomes a mockup. These are the rules a reviewer looks at, grouped the way we check them, with the reasoning behind each so you can apply them to your own artwork.
Where the design rules come from now
Since April 2025 the Permit to Advertise on Vehicles is issued by Mada Media, created by Dubai Decree No. 20 of 2024 and working with the RTA and Dubai Municipality. According to the Dubai Media Office, its platform standardises terms and conditions and enforces Dubai's out-of-home advertising manual. In practice, the design rules carried over from the RTA, and the last detailed public list of them is the RTA terms reported by Khaleej Times in November 2024.
That gives you a sensible way to work: design to the last published rules, then read the current terms on madamedia.com before you submit, in case anything has been relaxed or added. Where this article says "the last published terms", that is what it means. How to file the application is covered in our step-by-step permit guide; this page is only about the artwork.
Rule 1: the advert must match your licence and your name
The reviewer reads your artwork next to your trade licence. Two things have to line up.
Licensed activities
The vehicle can only advertise what the licence allows. If the activity list says building maintenance, the van cannot also promise pest control and catering, even if you plan to add them next year. Add the activity with your licensing authority first, or leave it off the vehicle. We keep the licence open beside the artwork while we design, because service lists grow during client reviews and one extra word can cause a return.
The licensed name, in both languages
The company's Arabic trade name has to match the trade licence and the vehicle ownership exactly. A short brand name is fine as the big logo, but the full licensed name should appear somewhere on the design, usually in a smaller line under the logo or near the phone number.
Special content needs special paperwork
The last published terms required an NOC from the Dubai Land Department for real estate adverts, and proof of trademark ownership or the brand owner's NOC when you advertise a brand you sell but do not own. A distributor van covered in a manufacturer's logo is the typical case.
Rule 2: Arabic and English, and Arabic gets real space
The last published terms allowed only Arabic and English on vehicle adverts and stated that Arabic must make up no less than 50% of the advertising content. Plan for that unless Mada Media's current terms say otherwise. A Hindi, Russian or Chinese line aimed at a particular community will not pass.
Fifty per cent does not mean your design has to look crowded. The way we handle it:
- Pair every line. Service line in English, the same line in Arabic beside or beneath it, at a similar size. Treat them as one block.
- Logos and numbers stay as they are. A logo is artwork, and phone numbers read the same in both.
- Cut the copy, not the Arabic. If doubling the text makes the panel busy, the English had too many words to begin with. Our article on information overload shows how to trim.
- Have a person write it. Machine translation and design software that breaks Arabic letter joins are the two problems we fix most often. A native speaker should read the final mockup, not only the text file.
Heavy calligraphy looks beautiful up close and turns into texture at 30 metres. Use a clean Arabic typeface for anything that must be read in traffic.
Rule 3: keep glass, lights and plates clear
The last published terms banned adverts on the windscreen and on the front upper part of the vehicle. Add to that what every reviewer expects: nothing on the front side windows, and nothing over headlights, tail lights, indicators, reflectors or either number plate.
| Area | What we do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Windscreen and upper front | Nothing, apart from official stickers such as parking permits | Driver's view, and the rule is explicit |
| Driver and front passenger windows | Nothing | Side visibility at junctions and roundabouts |
| Rear window and rear side windows | Perforated one-way vision film where the vehicle and design allow it | The driver can still see out; solid vinyl blocks the view |
| Lights, reflectors, plates | Cut the vinyl clear around them with a margin | They must work and be readable at all times |
On a HiAce or Urvan panel van the rear side panels are often metal, not glass, so the side gives you a long clean run for the main message. On a pickup, the tailgate is the best place for the phone number because it is what the queue behind you stares at on Sheikh Zayed Road. Heavy vehicles also carry mandatory rear reflective markings; never design over them.
Rule 4: images, effects and content that will not pass
Reviewers look at every picture and every line, not just the logo. The last published list of things not allowed on vehicle adverts was specific:
- More than five images per side of the vehicle
- 3D images, such as illusions of a torn body panel or products bursting out of the van
- Images of real people, including your own staff or a smiling model from a stock library
- Smoking symbols, which rules out a shisha café showing a pipe
- National flags
- Religious slogans or symbols
- Images that violate public morality
Our own rules go a little further. We avoid layouts that read as Dubai Police, ambulance, civil defence or taxi livery at a glance, such as a green and white scheme with a bold side stripe, because misleading content is a standard reason for rejection. We also avoid claims you cannot prove, like "No.1 in the UAE", and dated offers, because a permit typically runs for a year and "Ramadan offer" is out of date in a month.
Illustrations and icons are the easy answer to the people rule. A plumber's van with a clean illustration of a technician reads faster at 60 km/h than a photo anyway.
Rule 5: QR codes, barcodes and social handles
This is the grey area. The last published terms listed barcodes among the items not allowed, and a QR code is technically a two-dimensional barcode. Some sites, including older versions of this article, treat QR codes as fine. The honest position is that you should check Mada Media's current terms, and if you include a QR code, show it on the mockup at its real size and position so the reviewer makes the call before you print.
Always have a fallback. A short web address or a WhatsApp number does the same job and is never questioned. If a QR code is approved, place it on the rear doors or a side panel near the kerb, where people standing or parked can scan it, and size it at least 15-20 cm square. Never put it where it invites a driver to reach for a phone.
Social media handles count as advertising content like any other text. Include them on the mockup and keep them to one or two platforms.
A pre-submission check you can run yourself
Before the design becomes a permit mockup, print it out or put it on a big screen and go through this list. If any answer is no, fix it now.
- Does every service on the vehicle appear on the trade licence?
- Is the licensed company name on the design, spelled exactly as on the licence, in Arabic and English?
- Is roughly half the advertising text in Arabic, written by a person and checked on the final artwork?
- Are the windscreen, the upper front and the front side windows completely empty?
- Are all lights, reflectors and both plates uncovered with a clear margin?
- Are there five images or fewer on each side, with no real people, 3D effects, flags, smoking or religious symbols?
- Is every claim true and every offer still valid in twelve months?
- Is anything you plan to add later, such as a QR code, already on the design?
Once the artwork passes, it still has to be drawn properly as a mockup of every side; our mockup guide covers that. Anything you change after approval needs approving again, so get the content settled here. If you would rather hand the whole job over, our vehicle branding service in Dubai designs to these rules, files the permit and fits the vinyl.
Frequently asked questions
Can I show my staff or a model in a photo on the van?
Not under the last published terms, which did not allow images of real people on vehicle adverts. Use an illustration, an icon or a silhouette instead. It avoids the rule, prints more cleanly at large sizes and is easier to read from a distance.
Are national flags allowed on company vehicle branding?
The last published RTA terms listed national flags among the items not allowed on vehicle advertising. If you want National Day graphics on company vehicles, check the current terms on madamedia.com first and keep them separate from the permanent design. Our National Day ideas guide covers the seasonal side.
Can my van advertise a brand we distribute but do not own?
Yes, with paperwork. The last published terms required proof of trademark ownership or a no-objection letter from the brand owner when the advert features a brand that is not yours. Ask the brand for the letter early, because it is often the slowest document to arrive.
Can I use a language other than Arabic and English on my vehicle?
No. The last published terms allowed only Arabic and English on vehicle adverts. If you want to reach a particular community, use imagery and a clear phone number rather than a third language.
How many photos can I put on each side of the vehicle?
The last published terms set a maximum of five images per side. In practice we rarely use more than two or three, because a vehicle passes in seconds and one strong image is remembered better than a collage.
Want your artwork checked before you submit?
Send the design and a copy of your trade licence on WhatsApp at +971 56 925 9327. We will mark anything a reviewer is likely to question and suggest the smallest change that fixes it, before you spend money on printing.
RTA Approval in Dubai, handled end to end
Our designers lay out every vehicle against the permit rules before the mockup goes to Mada Media, so you are not redesigning after a return.
About the author
R Haque, Printajo Advertising LLC. Printajo has designed, permitted and installed vehicle branding, stickers and signage in Dubai since 2014, with 5,000+ projects for 500+ UAE companies.
This guide is written from that project experience and reviewed by our production and permits team (last reviewed 4 November 2026). About Printajo · See our work
