The main Switzerland abbreviation is CH, the two-letter code in the ISO 3166 country list, and the three-letter version is CHE. Neither one starts with S, and that surprises a lot of people. The letters come from Confoederatio Helvetica, the country's formal Latin title, meaning the Helvetic Confederation.
Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. A Latin name gave the country one neutral label that does not favor any of them. You will see CH on car stickers, coins, stamps, web addresses and shipping forms, while sports scoreboards often use a different code, SUI.
Quick facts
Two-letter code
CHThree-letter code
CHEComes from
Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin)Sports code
SUICurrency
CHF, the Swiss francWeb ending
.chIn writing
Switz. (rare), usually spelled outNot to be confused with
SE or SWE for Sweden, SZ for Eswatini
Every Switzerland abbreviation in one table
| Code | Where it is used | Example |
|---|---|---|
| CH | Shipping forms, drop down menus, car stickers | "Country: CH" |
| CHE | Passports, data files, official lists | "Nationality: CHE" |
| SUI | Olympics, soccer and other sports | "SUI 2, ITA 1" |
| CHF | Money and exchange rates | "Total in CHF" |
| .ch | Swiss web addresses | A site ending in .ch |
| +41 | Phone calls into the country | A number starting +41 |
| Switz. | Older reference books and tight tables | "Geneva, Switz." |
For a full list of how other nations are coded, see our page of country, city and airport codes.
Why CH and not SW
Most country codes take letters from the English or local name. Germany uses DE from Deutschland, for example, as the Germany abbreviation page explains. Switzerland goes back further, to Latin. Its official name in German is Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, in French Confédération suisse, and in Italian Confederazione Svizzera. Picking letters from any one of those would have leaned toward one language group.
Confoederatio Helvetica sidesteps that problem. Helvetia is the old Latin name for the region, after the Helvetii, a people who lived there in Roman times. The same word appears on Swiss coins and stamps, which say HELVETIA instead of a modern name.
The Swiss franc and CHF
Currency codes usually take the two-letter country code and add a letter for the money. So the Swiss franc becomes CHF: CH for the country and F for franc. You will see CHF on exchange boards at airports, on bank statements and on menus in Swiss cities. In shops, amounts often carry CHF or the short form "Fr." in front of the number.
On a travel budget sheet: "Train pass, paid in CHF." The letters tell you the cost is in Swiss francs, not euros, which many neighboring countries use.
SUI in sports
At the Olympics and in international soccer, Switzerland is listed as SUI. The sports world keeps its own codes, and they do not always match the ISO list. SUI likely draws on the French and Italian forms of the country name, Suisse and Svizzera. So if you are watching a ski race and see SUI next to a skier's name, that racer is Swiss. CHE and CH almost never appear on a scoreboard.
How to write Switzerland in a sentence
In regular writing, spell the name out: "She studied in Switzerland for a year." The short form Switz., with a period, still shows up in some atlases, indexes and old news datelines, but most American style guides do not use it in running text. Use CH or CHE only where a form or a database asks for a code.
- Address line: write SWITZERLAND in capitals as the last line of an international address, even if a form also asks for CH.
- Adjective: the adjective is Swiss, as in Swiss cheese or a Swiss bank.
- Article: no "the" is needed. Say "Switzerland," not "the Switzerland."
Country codes people mix up with CH
Several codes sit close together in the alphabet or look like they should belong to Switzerland.
- SE and SWE belong to Sweden, not Switzerland.
- SZ is the code for Eswatini, the country once called Swaziland.
- CN is China, and CL is Chile.
- AT is Austria, Switzerland's eastern neighbor.
A quick memory trick: CH is for Confoederatio Helvetica, and the H is for Helvetia. If you remember the Latin, you will never type SW by mistake.
Questions people ask
What is the abbreviation for Switzerland?
The standard short form is CH, with CHE as the three-letter code. In sports, Switzerland is listed as SUI.
Why is Switzerland CH?
The two letters come from Confoederatio Helvetica, an old Latin title. Latin was chosen as a neutral option because the country has four national languages.
Is the Switzerland abbreviation SW or SWI?
Neither is an official code. Use CH or CHE on forms and SUI for sports results.
What does CHF mean?
CHF is the code for the Swiss franc, the national currency. It joins the country code CH with F for franc.
What country code is +41?
That is the phone code for Switzerland. Dial it before a Swiss number when calling from abroad.