U s license plates

First, the fonts are too brightly colored, easily clashing with the car itself. Second, the "North Carolina" is punctured by the plate holes, which could be corrected by making the font smaller or moving it up see New Mexico. And third, "First in Flight" is also too big and yet can still be difficult to read because of the Wright Brothers doing their thing in the background.

Ultimately, this plate is just a bit busy and could use a subtle update of the same generally solid design. This plate could have easily been up around No. Other states, like New York and Texas, managed to fit seven while maintaining the space and general aesthetics.

Such a shame. That unique Rainier backdrop, flush-left state name in bold red, and the clean contrasting "Evergreen State" was originally a great design.

Washington just mucked it up. Worse, from afar, it kinda just looks like a dirty California plate. Wyoming has had that iconic Bucking Horse and Rider emblem on its license plates since , which speaks to knowing a good thing when you have one. Since then, the state has taken full advantage of license plate printing technology with various photorealistic landscapes in the background.

I've strongly debated putting it in the Toon Town category below, but then I ultimately decided it's just a better design than the others below and also is more of a photo-realistic landscape than a cartoon. Either way, time to go back to a classic, Wyoming, you used to do it better than anyone. I waffled a bit on this one, wondering if it was worthy of being in Tier 3, but nah, it's too busy. While that green color is Top 3 material when used as the background, it's difficult to read when used as the font.

There's also both powder blue and pale green in the background, plus that Old Man of the Mountain that Granite Staters seem to love so much … and that collapsed all the way back in It's like Washington putting pre Mount St. Helens on its license plate. South Dakota has had a depiction of Mount Rushmore on its license plate since , so it was WAY ahead of its time there. Also, when one thinks of South Dakota, I'm pretty sure the only thing most people can recall is Mount Rushmore. This design is better than past efforts.

Still, this color choice of beige, while unique for a license plate, is also ugly. The photo-realistic Rushmore faces with the blue sky, cursive state name and letters on top are, as this tier states, busy. Here's another for the "you mucked it up" sub tier. When introduced more the 20 years ago, this plate was stamped and had six digits.

It looked pretty good and was certainly a unique design obviously indicative of Arizona. There are eroded mountains and cacti aplenty there. Colors of teal, purple and orangey yellow are also as Arizona as it got if you go by Arizona sports teams of the era, minus ones that originated in St. Unfortunately, in , the plate became screen printed and not only was a seventh registry digit added, but the series of numbers and letters became oddly right-justified to leave room for the big cactus and the font was changed from the usual, attractive rounded font to a very severe and fake-looking one.

So although it's still a unique design and instantly recognizable as being from Arizona, it's now ugly. Oh Florida, you'd couldn't just leave excellence alone. The basis of this plate is the classic design Florida had from to with very Floridian shades of green and orange for the letters and map of Florida.

Colorful, instantly recognizable, Top stuff. But then they spruced up the Florida font I'm OK with that and added a big orange on top of the map now you're losing me. Then a second orange, a flower and " MyFlorida. Still, could be worse …. This plate is instantly recognizable as being from the Volunteer State, mostly due to the unique color applied to the mountain scape.

It even has six registry digits separated by the state map and a unique font for "Tennessee. There's "The Volunteer State" in tiny font plopped on top of "Tennessee" because its usual spot at the bottom is taken up by the gigantic county name.

There are not only month and year stickers in the upper corners, but spots in the bottom corners for a class code, model year and "wheel tax decal. Couldn't find a place for a bust of Andrew Jackson and a kitchen sink? The color of this is nice. As we learned from Nevada, powder blue pairs well with just about anything.

It's also an uncluttered design with only six digits and has the unique graphical element of zooming in on the state seal. But that's part of my problem with this. The choice of state seal is inherently an uninspired one every state has one!

Not bad, but ultimately anonymous. This looks like it was inspired by a varsity jacket. The fonts, the stripes, the numbers … they're very Friday Night Lights.

West Virginia has been rocking this since , with the only interruption being the inclusion of a website from to It saved itself a lot of spots on this list thanks to that correction. This could use an update. Specifically, the "Arkansas" font is way too huge and the blue ombre is too Connecticut. But it's still better than those in the "Bad Ombre" tier and just generally fine, so here it is. I like the font itself, and the big-ol' honkin diamond makes the plate instantly recognizable as being from The Natural State.

Which sounds like something women with hairy armpits espouse. Congratulations Alabama, you've moved up the list! By only one spot and you're still firmly entrenched in Toon Town, but improvement's still improvement. This new plate , which has started rolling out for , features a generic beach landscape rather than the old, generic mountain-and-lake landscape.

As before, the image could be from any number of states. It also seems weird that Alabama would choose to so prominently feature the tiny sliver of itself that touches the Gulf of Mexico, but then I'm not from there, so what do I know?

What I do know is that this is a more attractive and complementary color scheme than the old one. It should pair quite nicely with most colors without drawing too much attention to itself.

It's a good-looking plate and, honestly, I could probably be talked into moving it up to maybe the 26 range below Wyoming. The hang-ups? The generic nature of the image for one, and another, they added a website.

Tsk tsk. Indiana gets new plates every five years and since has mostly oscillated between classic designs and colorful illustration designs. When I moved to Indianapolis in , we had this tequila sunrise " Amber Waves of Grain " plate I recall that Hoosiers particularly despised.

By , it adopted the truly classic " Crossroads of America " that they never should've gone away from. My first car wore it well and my current car could too , since Indy allows you to rock period-correct plates. Anyway, Indiana has made its way back to Toon Town with the current design. It could be and has been worse, but there's way too many colors going on and it looks childish. It belongs on a Cozy Coupe, not a real car. Wait a minute, Ohio improved its standing on the list with this new plate?

The same new plate that led to great embarrassment and 35, recycled license plates after it was pointed out that the prominently featured Wright Brothers plane was originally pointed in the wrong direction? Yep, I guess so. It's certainly a more successful effort than the ugly, bizarre previous design formerly No. Actually, it just seems like more of an effort, period. That said, this quite clearly belongs in Toon Town with its cornucopia of colors, cartoony imagery and the kitchen sink approach to making sure various parts of the state are represented.

Oh, and the Wright Brothers. This thing is hilarious. Before doing research for this list, I just assumed this was an optional plate that "Song of the South" aficionados chose for their cars. Toon Town up there is the standard one. This bland, but perfectly acceptable peach of a plate is actually the no-cost option. What is that thing? I originally thought this was a flower and therefore a special EV or hybrid license plate as some states have.

Then I saw it on a Challenger , so nope. Apparently, this design confused plenty of Oklahomans, too, who either didn't recognize it was a bird or didn't know what type of bird it is. Apparently it's a scissor-tailed flycatcher. Alrighty then. You gotta give them credit for trying something, but this plate is ultimately too arty, conceptual and busy.

Also, website. This plate looks really printed and really fake. The cursive font for the slogan "While I Breathe, I Hope" belongs in a high school yearbook, and the plate in general is just really plain apart from the palmetto tree that's been on S.

The last design at least inserted some orange into this same general design double ombre! This plate was originally higher on this list at the bottom of the Fine category, but after some thought, it's just bad. Try again. They respectively symbolize strength and Alaska's northern location. Arizona's license plate informs people of the state's nickname the "Grand Canyon State" and showcases its famous desert landscape.

In Arkansas, typical license plates are characterized by a diamond graphic. The gem symbolizes one of the state's most significant natural resources. Arkansas is home to Crater of Diamonds State Park. The white, blue, and red California license plate you see today has been around since , when the state celebrated its sesquicentennial th anniversary. Colorado's license plate is embossed with a mountain design — a fitting choice for the state where you'll find the Rocky Mountains.

In fact, the style of the plate hasn't changed much since the s. But the constitution in question isn't the document that laid the groundwork for American democracy. The nickname actually refers to a set of local government rules circa called the Fundamental Orders.

The nickname wasn't official until a first grade class made the suggestion in The District of Columbia's license plate is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Washington's slogan, "Taxation without Representation," references the fact that District residents have no representatives in Congress. Florida is known for its oranges, so it make sense that the citrus fruits — set against an outline of the state — adorn the Sunshine State's license plate.

Similar to Florida's license plate, Georgia's shows its most famous export — peaches — and an outline of the state. Hawaii's license plate is the most magical of the lot.

But the pretty image is far from arbitrary, signifying the Aloha State's status as a rainbow-viewing destination. In fact, Honolulu, is known as the "rainbow capital of the world.

Until last year, Illinois' license plates focused solely on the state's identity as the "Land of Lincoln" Abraham Lincoln lived in the state capital, Springfield, between and The clunkier new design — which has been criticized by the public — crams half of Lincoln's face, Chicago's Willis Tower, and the Illinois Capitol Building onto one plate. Between and , Indiana issued this classy license plate bearing the state's motto, " The Crossroads of America.

The current design, which features one of the covered bridges the state is known for, is a little cartoonish but has more character. Iowa's license plate not only tells other drivers which state a resident's car is from — it also identifies his or her county. Post a Comment. Pages Love AnswerTrivia? We're sure you are busy so we'll make this quick: Today we need your help.

We don't have salespeople. Thank you. No minimum threshold! Then, there are U. Forces in Germany plates, which are by far the most common, and in most cases, the most confusing to the novice.

In most years, these plates consisted of nothing more than the plate number and the acronym USA. The reason these plates even exist isn't hard to figure out. Imagine the police in Germany or other countries trying to recognize plates from the various 50 states, and trying to keep track of how each state identified the date the registration expired, what plate types belonged on what vehicle types, and so on. The U. Forces plates provide consistency that make these things easy for local law enforcement.

Forces plates are readily found in the United States, because many members of the U. For now, this page is going to just address U. Forces in Germany plates, primarily passenger car plates from to the present, as these plates generate the most questions by far.

Eventually, I may expand coverage to include other U. Forces plates. If you find an error or have additional information, or can provide a plate or a photo of a plate that I'm missing, please send me an e-mail. There's a link to my e-mail address at the bottom of every page.

Forces in Germany plates. These plates simply said US at the bottom initially. Plates were colored white-on-green and all passenger car plates had serial prefix letter E.

A revised design introduced in late changed the text at the bottom to read United States of America with no year. Numbering continued where the original design left off. The latter design was used through ; it's not clear whether the former design remained in use in or was replaced with the latter. An undated white-on-black plate was used for two years, through This one also had United States of America embossed along the bottom, but passenger car plates used prefix letter C.

There were two versions of this plate, with different dies used to stamp the country name at the bottom. Motorcycle plates were smaller than passenger car plates but colored the same. They initally had the text US across the top and used prefix letter M.

I could find no information about trailer plates, but I assume they were either similar to passenger car plates or motorcycle plates. Likely they used either prefix T or CT, possibly stacked. During these two years, U. New plates were issued annually and the year was stamped on the plate. I believe that starting in , trailer plates changed from being full-sized to motorcycle-sized. Both had the text U. Only during the ten year period was the phrase U. Forces in Germany actually stamped on the plates, making their purpose and use reasonably clear, at least for English speakers.

To be precise, the plates didn't include the word "in". Through , the entire phrase was located along the bottom of the plate. New plates were issued annually and each year's plates had the year stamped on them. In , the year was at the bottom right, next to the word "Germany"; after that, the year was placed at the top center of the plate.

Starting in , various single letter prefixes identifying the service members' duty stations were used. Colors varied each year, except that the and plates were both black-on-dark-yellow.

Due to the change in numbering format in , it was still obvious from a distance which was which. Note that a plate with the letters "USA" at the top and plate number R is not a real license plate, nor is it even a replica of a U. Forces in Germany plate. Like passenger car plates, motorcycle and trailer plates had the phrase U. Forces in Germany stamped on the plate without the word "in" in , but across the top of the plate.

The four-digit year was split between the two bottom corners of the plate. These plates had bolt slots at the bottom but not at the top. Starting in , U. Forces plates were made in the 12"-by-6" dimensions that had become standard in North America in The smaller plate width necessitated splitting the phrase U.

Forces in Germany between the top and bottom of the plate, with the word "Germany" followed by the four-digit year going on the bottom. In only, the duty station letter code was a suffix rather than a prefix. The design of and motorcycle and trailer plates continued unchanged from and For the four year period between and , U.

The red wasn't a typical bright red; it was a more subdued shade that I would call "brick red". Numbering format consisted of a single letter followed by one to five numeric digits, with the letter prefix continuing to be a code identifying the service member's duty station.

Evidence of current registration was provided by means of a windshield decal indicating a staggered expiration date.