Vehicle registration plates of North Carolina

The U.S. state of North Carolina first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1913.

Passenger baseplates 1913 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 North Carolina license plate that complied with these standards.

Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1913	Black base with white letters	none	1234	unknown	Validation date 6/30/13. "N. C." on right side of plate
1914	White base with red letters	none	1234	unknown	Validation date 6/30/14.
1915	Green base with white letters	none	1234	unknown	Validation date 6/30/15.
1916	White base with black letters	none	1234	unknown	Validation date 6/30/16.
1917	Dark blue base with white letters	none	1234	unknown	First year of stamped metal. From the collection of Richard Watson. Validation date 6/30/17.
1918	White base with dark blue letters	none	12-345	unknown	Validation date 6/30/18.
1919	Dark blue base with white letters	none	12-345	unknown	Validation date 6/30/19.
1920	Yellow base with black letters	none	12-345	unknown	Validation date 6/30/20.
1921	Brown base with white letters	none	12-345	unknown	Validation date 6/30/21.
1933	Blue base with white lettering	none	123-456	unknown
1935	Black base with silver lettering	none	123-456	unknown
1941	Black base with yellow lettering	none	123-456	unknown
1942	Yellow base with black lettering	none	123-456	unknown	Red tab attached over date at bottom for 1943 due to wartime steel shortages. This took the place of issuing new plates for 1943.
1943	Yellow base with black lettering with black A43 Tab	none	123-456	unknown	Black tab attached over date at bottom for 1943 due to wartime steel shortages.
1944	Black base with yellow lettering	none	123-456	unknown
1949	Yellow base with black lettering	none	123-456	unknown	From the personal collection of Richard Watson.
1964	Yellow base with black lettering	none	AB-1234	unknown
1965	Black base with yellow lettering	none	AB-1234	unknown
1975	Red on white	First in Freedom	ABC-123	AAA-101 to approximately PMZ-999
1978	Red on white	none	ABC-123	PNA-101 to approximately ZRZ-999
1982	Blue on reflective white with Wright Flyer graphic	First in Flight	ABC-123	ZSA-101 to ZZZ-999	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1982 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first and, to date, only time North Carolina has been so honored. Also, first time in NC history that registration stickers are issued instead of replacing the license plate itself.
			ABC-12	AAA-11 to ZZZ-99
			ABC-123	AAA-101 to JAY-999
1985			ABC-1234	ANA-1001 to approximately WTF-1973	A through M not used as second letters in serials (so AZZ was followed by BNA, BZZ was followed by CNA and so on); G, I, O, Q and U not used in any position (though OBX started to be issued in 1999 as a special series for Dare County). This arrangement continued until ZZZ-9999 was issued in 2011.
early 2007	Red on reflective white with Wright Flyer graphic	First in Flight	ABC-1234	WTF-1995 to approximately ZND-9999
late 2009	Blue on reflective white with Wright Flyer graphic	First in Flight	ABC-1234	ZNE-1001 to ZZZ-9999	Switched back to blue lettering, following complaints that the red lettering was too hard to read from a distance.
late 2011	Blue on reflective white with Wright Flyer graphic	First in Flight	ABC-1234	AAA-1001 to DEP-9999 (as of April 5, 2015)	A through M used as second letters in serials (so AMZ was followed by BAA, BMZ was followed by CAA and so on); G, I, O, Q and U not used in any position. This arrangement should continue until ZMZ-9999 is issued.

Non-passenger types

A temporary license plate on a motorcycle in North Carolina.

Image	Type	Dates issued	Design	Serial format	Notes
	Manufacturer		Blue on white	MF-1234

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to License plates of North Carolina.

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.

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 North Carolina

Raleigh (capital)

Topics	Climate Geography Government History Music Law North Carolinians State Parks Wildlife Visitor attractions

Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Gambling Politics Sports

Regions	Cape Fear Coastal Plain Crystal Coast Eastern Foothills High Country Inner Banks Metrolina (Charlotte) Outer Banks Piedmont Piedmont Triad Sandhills Triangle Western

Largest cities	Asheville Cary Chapel Hill Charlotte Concord Durham Fayetteville Gastonia Greensboro Greenville High Point Jacksonville Raleigh Wilmington Winston‑Salem

Smaller cities	Albemarle Apex Asheboro Burlington Conover Eden Elizabeth City Garner Goldsboro Graham Havelock Henderson Hendersonville Hickory Kannapolis Kings Mountain Kinston Laurinburg Lenoir Lexington Lumberton Monroe Morganton New Bern Newton Reidsville Roanoke Rapids Rocky Mount Salisbury Sanford Shelby Statesville Thomasville Wake Forest Waynesville Wilson

Major towns	Beaufort Boone Carrboro Clayton Cornelius Dunn Fuquay-Varina Harrisburg Holly Springs Hope Mills Huntersville Indian Trail Kernersville Knightdale Leland Matthews Midland Mint Hill Mooresville Morehead City Morrisville Mount Pleasant Oxford Shallotte Smithfield Southern Pines Tarboro

Counties	Alamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey