Vehicle registration plates of California

The U.S. state of California began issuing license plates in 1913.

1 Passenger baseplates
- 1.1 Base plate colors 1914 to 1962
- 1.2 Baseplates 1963 to present
2 Non-passenger types
3 Optional types (specialty plates)
4 Year-of-manufacture plates
5 References
6 External links

Passenger baseplates

California alternated issuing single-year and multi-year plates.

Base plate colors 1914 to 1962

Some plates were revalidated for multiple years. For example, the 1947-dated plate was revalidated with metal tabs until 1950.

Year of Expiry	Characters on background	Validation Tabs (if multi-year)
1914	white on brick	single year
1915	black on yellow	single year
1916	blue on white	1917 1918 1919
1920	white on black	single year
1921	black on yellow	single year
1922	blue on white	single year
1923	white on black	single year
1924	white on green	single year
1925	black on yellow	single year
1926	white on blue	single year
1927	white on maroon	single year
1928	yellow on blue	single year
1929	orange on black	single year
1930	black on orange	single year
1931	orange on black	single year
1932	black on orange	single year
1933	orange on black	single year
1934	black on orange	single year
1935	orange on black	single year
1936	black on orange	single year
1937	orange on black	single year
1938	black on yellow	single year
1939	yellow on blue	single year
1940	black on orange	single year
1941	yellow on black	1942 - 1943 - 1944 -
1942	yellow on black	1943 - 1944 -
1945	white on black	1946 -
1947	black on yellow	1948 - 1949 - 1950 -
1951	yellow on black	1952 - 1953 - 1954 - 1955 -
1956	black on yellow	1957 - 1958 - 1959 - 1960 - 1961 - 1962 -

Baseplates 1963 to present

All base plates from 1963 to present are still valid for use, assuming that the plate never left the vehicle and the vehicle maintained concurrent registration.

Modern standard issue plates use a 7-digit format with a leading digit that remains constant plus a 6-digit serial starting with AAA000 and ending at ZZZ999. At that point the leading digit increases by one and the series starts over at AAA000. 5ZZZ999 was followed by 6AAA000, and will count up until the series is exhausted at 9ZZZ999. The next series after this will likely be a 7-digit series with the trailing number remaining constant with the 6-digit serial in the 123ABC format.

First issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1963	gold on black, non-reflective, embossed state name	ABC 123	AAA 000 to ZZZ 999	In addition to all plates in the section above these bases can be used for the year of manufacture program with appropriate year sticker. They can also be seen as regular registration with modern month/year stickers if the plates were originally registered to the vehicle.
1969	gold on blue, non-reflective, embossed state name	123 ABC	000 AAA to 999 ZZZ	Stamping dies were narrowed around the 123 Wxx series to prepare for the production of 7-digit passenger plates.
1980	gold on blue, non-reflective, embossed state name	1ABC123	1AAA000 to 1SZZ999	1Uxx123 and 1Vxx123 series have been issued on special plates such as Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and "whale tail" plates. 1Zxx123 series are issued on "LIVERY" plates used for vehicles such as for-hire limousines.
1982	blue on white with graphic state name, reflective Introduced as an optional plate in 1982, became standard issue in 1987.	1ABC123	2AAA000 to 2GPZ999	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association in 1983, the first and, to date, the only time that California has been so honored and the first time that an optional-issue plate was so recognized.
1987	blue on white with embossed red state name, reflective	1ABC123	2GQA000 to 3FZZ999
1994	blue on white with graphic red state name, reflective	1ABC123	3GAA000 to 3XZZ999	The state name was modified twice to increase its size. (The third and largest version is shown.) 3YAA-3ZZZ series not issued.
1998	blue on white with graphic red state name and "Sesquicentennial - 150 Years", reflective	1ABC123	4AAA000 to 4NOZ999
2000	blue on white with graphic red state name, reflective	1ABC123	4NPA000 to present (currently in the 6 series)	Identical in design to later plates on the 1996 base.

Non-passenger types

Type	First issued	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
Disabled Person—Motorcycle		1234D/P
Distributor		D/S/T 1234 1/2/A		Full-size number is constant for each distributing entity; stacked prefix varies.
Exempt		1234567	1000001 to present	"CA EXEMPT" across top.
Foreign Organization		123	001 to present.	"FOREIGN ORGANIZATION" printed to left of serial.
Manufacturer		M/F/G 1 1/A M/F/G 1 1/2/A M/F/G 12 1/A M/F/G 12 1/2/A		Full-size number is constant for each manufacturing entity; stacked prefix varies.
Motorcycle		12A1234
Permanent Trailer		4AB1234		"California Perm Trailer" across top.
Press Photographer		P/P 1234
Press Photographer	2000	P/P 1234
Special Equipment		S/E123456		Motorcycle-sized.
Tournament of Roses [1]	1998	TOFR123	TOFR1 to present	Used on parade vehicles during the Tournament of Roses parade.
Trailer		1AB1234		Indistinguishable from passenger plates aside from serial format.
Truck	Mid-1970's	1A12345	1A00001 to 8Z99999	Indistinguishable from passenger plates aside from serial format. Series was exhausted in early 2011. 9A12345 plates are issued to tractor trailers.
Truck	2011	12345A1	00001A1 to present	Indistinguishable from passenger plates aside from serial format.

Optional types (specialty plates)

Type	First issued	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1984 Olympics	1984	L/A12345 U/S12345	L/A00000 to present	No longer issued but still revalidated.
Arts Council	1994	ABC123 123ABC	Using previously unused letter blocks.
Bill of Rights	1990	1234 US
Children's Trust Fund		ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.	An embossed heart, hand, star, or plus sign appears to the left of the serial, or can be incorporated into "vanity" numbers.
Congressional Medal of Honor 84 —Passenger	1984	12		Given to Congressional Medal Of Honor recipients.
Congressional Medal of Honor 93 —Passenger	1993	12		Given to Congressional Medal Of Honor recipients.
Firefighter—Motorcycle		00A12	00A01 to present.
Firefighter—Passenger	1995	ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.	Only active or retired firefighter can apply for this type of plate. Logo of a firefighter on a blazing background.
Gold Star Family —Passenger		N/A		Given to family of fallen soldiers while in the line of duty.
Lake Tahoe Version 1	1996	1ABC123	No longer issued but still revalidated.
Lake Tahoe Version 2	2011	1ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.
Legion of Valor—Passenger		123		A sticker is placed to the right of the license plate number denoting the decoration held by the recipient. Air Force Cross -Air Force Medal of Honor -Army Medal of Honor - Army Distinguished Service Cross -Navy Cross -Navy Medal of Honor -
Olympic Training Center Version 1	1990	C/A12345 U/S12345	No longer issued but still revalidated.
Olympic Training Center Version 2	1999	C/A12345 U/S12345	No longer issued but still revalidated.
Olympic Training Center Version 3	2000	C/A12345 U/S12345
Pearl Harbor Survivor —Passenger		1234		Pearl Harbor Survivor of World War II
Protect Our Coast & Ocean Version 1	1997	1ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.
Protect Our Coast & Ocean Version 2	2011	1ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.
Purple Heart—Motorcycle		PH1234
POW Ex-Prisoner of War —Motorcycle		POW1234
POW Ex-Prisoner of War 93 —Passenger	1993	POW1234
POW Ex-Prisoner of War 00 —Passenger	2000	POW1234
Veteran	1994	ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.
We Will Never Forget	2002	1234MA
University of California, Los Angeles	1994	ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.
Yosemite National Park	1996	1ABC123	Using previously unused letter blocks.

Year-of-manufacture plates

The use of year-of-manufacture (YOM) plates is authorized by Section 5004.1 [2] of the California Motor Vehicle Code. It is a law that allows vintage cars to be registered to use vintage license plates. Any officially manufactured California license plates which were produced prior to 1963 and plates on a currently registered vehicle or trailer of a corresponding model year. If used on the original plate, a sticker or metal tab that corresponds to the year of the vehicle is required.

In July, 2009, California extended its YOM program to include passenger vehicles from 1963-1969, and commercial vehicles (pick-ups, etc.) through 1972. Any black and gold plate from this era may be used on these vehicles, as long as they are "clear" with the DMV (i.e., not used, reported stolen, or no records found, for the last 10 years). A valid sticker must be attached to the plate corresponding to the year of the vehicle that is to be registered.

References

External links

California license plates 1969-present

Vehicle registration plates of the United States

States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Federal district	Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia)

Insular areas	American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands

Vehicle registration plates of North America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

State of California

Sacramento (capital)

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