Vehicle registration plates of Missouri

The U.S. state of Missouri first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1911.

Passenger plates 1911 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Missouri license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	Dates issued	Description	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1931	Black lettering on gray base	none	123-456
	1933	Yellow embossed lettering and border on brown base, "1933 MISSOURI" embossed below registration.	none	123-456
	1935	White lettering on dark green base	none	123-456
	1948	White lettering on maroon base	none	123-456
	1968	White lettering on green base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1969	Green lettering on white base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1970	Black lettering on white base	none	A1A-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1971	White lettering on maroon base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1972	Blue lettering on reflective white base	none	A1A-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1973	Maroon lettering on reflective white base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1974	Black lettering on reflective white base	none	A1A-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1975	Reflective blue on reflective white base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1976	Reflective yellow on blue base	none	A1A-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1977	Reflective white on red base	Bicentennial logo at top	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1978	Reflective yellow on black base	none	A1A-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	1979	Reflective white on blue base	none	AA1-234	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	early 1980s	white on maroon	Show-Me State	AAB 123	First letter corresponds to month of expiration
	late 1980s			A1A 234
	early 1990s – 1996			1A2 34A
	1997–2005	dark blue on reflective white, blue and green gradient	Show-Me State	123 ABC	001 AAA to 999 ZZZ
	2006 – June 15, 2008			1AB 23C	0AA 01A to approximately 4DF 28X
	June 16, 2008 – present	dark blue on light blue gradient fade with bluebird graphic	Show Me State	AA1 B2C[1] AA1 BC2 (following exhaustion of above format)	First letter corresponds to month of expiration

Non-passenger types

Image	Type	Serial format	Notes
	Disabled Person	AB 12C	Not yet known whether coded by month of expiration.
	Local government	varies	Variety of designs issued for vehicles belonging to local governments.
	Trailer	12A 3BC	Not yet known whether coded by month of expiration.
	Truck less than 6,000 lb.	1AB 234	Coded by month of expiration. Not yet known whether coded by weight.
	Truck 6,000 to 12,000 lb.	unknown	Not yet known whether coded by month of expiration or by weight.

Month coding

The current base, first issued in June 2008, features serials coded by the month of the registration's expiration. The first letter of the serial constitutes this code. Once all available combinations beginning with the first letter assigned to that month are issued, a second code letter may be used for that month.

1949 to 1996

2008 to present

History

2008 base

Non-passenger types

Image	Type	Legend	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Apportioned Power Unit		12A B3C
	Apportioned Trailer		12A 345
	Bus		123 45B
	Dealer		D1-A D1-AB D12-A D12-AB D123-A D123-AB D1234-A D1234-AB		Numerical portion of serial remains constant for each dealer; suffix letter ascends for each plate issued to that dealer.
	Disabled Person		AB 12C
	Disabled Person—Truck 6,000 lb. and less		1A B23
	Motorcycle		AB 1CD
	Trailer		12A 3BC
	Truck 6,000 lb. and less		1AB 234

1998 base

Non-passenger types

Image	Type	Legend	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Dealer	Dealer	D1-A D1-AB D12-A D12-AB D123-A D123-AB D1234-A D1234-AB		Annual plates. Numerical portion of serial remains constant for each dealer; suffix letter ascends for each plate issued to that dealer.
	Disabled Person	Disabled	Progression of serial formats unknown, but included: 1 ABC 1 AB2
	Disabled Person - Truck less than 6,000 lb.	Disabled	1 A2B		"BL6" embossed at upper right.
	Motorcycle	none	A0 000 0A 000
	Shuttle Bus	SHUTTLE BUS	123 4SB
	Trailer	Trailer	AAA 000		Annual plates.
	Trailer - Commercial	COMM TRL	000 000
	Trailer - HRC	HRC TLR	000 000
	Trailer - Permanent	PERM TRL	PA0 000
	Truck 6,000 lb. and less	SHOW-ME STATE	000 AA0		Second letter: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, or S. "BL6" embossed at upper right.
	Truck 6,000 to 12,000 lb.	SHOW-ME STATE	000 AA0		Second letter: T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z. "BL12" embossed at upper right.
	U.S. Senate	Member of Congress	USS-1		Black on gold. Number indicates state's senior or junior senator.

Optional types

Optional types on this base continue to be issued, likely until January 2009. Most, if not all, optional types on this base were available in personalized format and with certain non-passenger designations. Where applicable, this designation was printed in a small rectangle screened in the upper right corner of the plate.

Image	Type	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Conservation
	Fight Terrorism
	God Bless America
	Helping Schools
	Purple Heart
	St. Louis Cardinals
	Shriners
	Southwest Missouri State University

References

External links

• Missouri license plates 1969-present