Best and Worst U.S. License Plates

[1995hoo]

The Puerto Rico plate was apparently a 1986 series, per this website (if I try to use the image, it displays all the plates, so forget that).

The site on which I found that image shows some other issues. I rather like the spiffy 2007 series with what looks like a fort set against the sea and sky. The same fort appears on the Puerto Rico quarter issued as part of the territorial quarters follow-up to the 50 State Quarters program.

The Guam plate was actually a bit easier to identify than the Puerto Rico one because the one I saw showed the island and I recognize its shape. But I still wasn't sure I was seeing what my eyes told me I was seeing, you know?

[kphoger]

D.C. is a great place for plate spotting.  I've seen both Guam and Puerto Rico parked in D.C.  I've seen a motor home with German plates in Colorado, Massachussets parallel-parked in a Paris suburb, Arizona in Switzerland, but my favorites to spot were always the old Diplomat plates, back before they redesigned them to look more normal.

My all-time favorite plates are the old 1990s-era green-on-white Mexican plates, but (sticking with the topic of U.S. plates), my favorite current American ones are actually Tennessee's plates.  Yes, yes, I know they're 3M flats, but they're freaking stylish, man!  Mississippi almost always has pretty designs, too, and has for years.

[Alex]

a Nunavut plate would be quite the sighting.

And Nunavut is debuting a new base for its license plates:

http://licenseplates.cc/news/New-Nunavut-plates-for-2012

[agentsteel53]

my favorites to spot were always the old Diplomat plates, back before they redesigned them to look more normal.

which ones are these?

I like the diplomat plates I spotted in Paris... orange-red on a dark green background, on an invariably fancy car.

[1995hoo]

D.C. is a great place for plate spotting.  I've seen both Guam and Puerto Rico parked in D.C.  I've seen a motor home with German plates in Colorado, Massachussets parallel-parked in a Paris suburb, Arizona in Switzerland, but my favorites to spot were always the old Diplomat plates, back before they redesigned them to look more normal.

....

You mean this style? I liked these better than the current ones. Some people living four houses up the street from us have the current style of diplomat plates, so I see the current ones every day.



Back when I was in college I had a listing of the country codes in the car. My father had the list and left it in the door pocket when he sold the car to me during my senior year of high school. I no longer have it, but it doesn't matter because that list has long since been superseded.


Current style of diplomat plate:

[CentralCAroadgeek]

One reason why I like going to tourist cities is that I can see all kinds of different plates there. That's what makes parking garages interesting for me. Even just in Monterey, you can see many states. But once you get across the mountain to Salinas, I basically just see Arizonas and Nevadas.

I occasionally see Mexican plates, as well as cars with Euro plates on the front.

The most "exotic" plate I've seen has got to be a Maine duck plate. I saw it at the parking lot for Monterey's Del Monte Shopping Center.

[agentsteel53]

You mean this style? I liked these better than the current ones.

I like the current one.  A bit more subtle.  Diplomats shouldn't be running around advertising how special they are - we've got home-grown politicians for that.

[realjd]

I do not recall ever seeing a Puerto Rico plate.  I do remember seeing Belize and Guatemala plates but do not remember if I saw those in the US or in Mexico. 

I've only been to extreme northwest Mexico (Baja and Sonora), so even there those Central American plates are quite unusual.

in Europe, the farthest-away plate, apart from that Florida, which I recall seeing was a Kazakhstan truck.

PR plates aren't too uncommon around here. Other unusual plates I've seen over the past few years:
NWT
Acapulco, Mexico
Mexico City
Germany (on a clearly European RV)
Bahamas
USA/NATO European-style plate
Costa Rica

[bugo]

Arkansas.  "The Natural State".  WTF does that even mean?

It's a reference to the natural beauty of the state, which is in abundance north and west of US 67.

[agentsteel53]

Germany (on a clearly European RV)

I've seen a handful of European plates on vehicles in the US, and indeed a good portion of them were RVs or similar.  Most recently, on I-5 in Oregon, I saw French plates on a classic 1960s VW microbus.  

[bugo]

If I had to put an "In god we trust" plate on my car I would black it out with electrical tape.

[bugo]

North Dakota's plates are cool.  They remind me of a cartoon.

Oklahoma's new off center non-embossed plates are ugly.  I have one, and I don't like the way it looks on my car.  I'd get the US 66 specialty plate but I don't think they issue them now.

[agentsteel53]

If I had to put an "In god we trust" plate on my car I would black it out with electrical tape.

I would do my best to "white" it out with retroreflective sheeting of the appropriate color.

[bugo]

I do not recall ever seeing a Puerto Rico plate.  I do remember seeing Belize and Guatemala plates but do not remember if I saw those in the US or in Mexico. 

I've only been to extreme northwest Mexico (Baja and Sonora), so even there those Central American plates are quite unusual.

in Europe, the farthest-away plate, apart from that Florida, which I recall seeing was a Kazakhstan truck.

I saw a car once on OK 165 with Mexican tags (I couldn't tell which state) that I'd never seen before.  I sped up and passed it and it was a Seat Ibiza.  I'd heard of Seats but I'd never seen one.

[bugo]

Nobody has mentioned tribal plates.  There are a bunch of tribes in Oklahoma that have their own tags.  They have the tribe name on top with OKLAHOMA on the bottom.  I've read that the tribal tags are not recognized in Florida, so if you have tribal tags don't drive there.

[realjd]

If I had to put an "In god we trust" plate on my car I would black it out with electrical tape.

I would do my best to "white" it out with retroreflective sheeting of the appropriate color.

One of the few upsides to printed license plates, right?

[NWI_Irish96]

Indiana used to have a cool number system, well actually they still do in a way, by having a one or two digit number represent the county (Similar to South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana I believe).

They're merely numbered in alphabetical order from what I recall (so 1 would be Adams up through 92 for Whitley), although the BMV's website doesn't explicitly say so. I know the county numbers show up in other places (e.g., INDOT's reference post manuals), so it would seem to follow the BMV uses the same system.

Yes, the system was alphabetical, but Marion and Lake counties ran out of numbers so the prefixes 93-99 were extras for those counties.  Trying to identify license plate codes while traveling as a kid is what got me to learn all 92 counties in alphabetical order.

[elsmere241]

but by far the most out-of-place plate I've seen was a Florida plate in ... Poland!

I saw one once in Italy too.

[1995hoo]

You mean this style? I liked these better than the current ones.

I like the current one.  A bit more subtle.  Diplomats shouldn't be running around advertising how special they are - we've got home-grown politicians for that.

They're still pretty obvious–or at least, they seem it to those of us here in the DC area, but we see so many of them that they're recognizable as diplomat plates at a glance. I suppose in other parts of the country it would be a different matter, much like the tribal tags bugo mentions. I've never seen one of those, and I've never seen a Mexican plate in the United States (or Canada), but given where I live the odds of seeing them are far lower than they would be in a place like Texas or Arizona. (I did see a Texas plate in Cozumel once, however. You'd really have to be staying for a long time to make that worthwhile. The car ferry is a notorious nuisance.)

[tdindy88]

Indiana used to have a cool number system, well actually they still do in a way, by having a one or two digit number represent the county (Similar to South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana I believe).

They're merely numbered in alphabetical order from what I recall (so 1 would be Adams up through 92 for Whitley), although the BMV's website doesn't explicitly say so. I know the county numbers show up in other places (e.g., INDOT's reference post manuals), so it would seem to follow the BMV uses the same system.

Yes, the system was alphabetical, but Marion and Lake counties ran out of numbers so the prefixes 93-99 were extras for those counties.  Trying to identify license plate codes while traveling as a kid is what got me to learn all 92 counties in alphabetical order.

My collection of pictures from the various Indiana counties are classified by those numbers, 2-Allen for instance. Now it just has the number and the name on it, ruining the game. Thankfully, the In God We Trust plates and specialty plates still use only the number and from the latest IGWT plates I've seen, the white ones, they now put the county number on the plate without any stickers, presumebly so people can't remove them. Makes me wonder if the next series of standard plates will do the same with the county number-name combination on it.

[agentsteel53]

I did see a Texas plate in Cozumel once, however. You'd really have to be staying for a long time to make that worthwhile. The car ferry is a notorious nuisance.

do you mean a ferry just to get to the island ... or a ferry across the Gulf from Florida or something?

[agentsteel53]

I saw one once in Italy too.

those Floridians get around.  I saw one in Alaska a few days ago as well, and in March, 2010, I saw one on the Alaska Highway in British Columbia.  This in stark contrast to Georgia or whatnot... I've never seen a Georgia plate, or a NC or SC or Alabama etc etc ...outside the lower 48.

[agentsteel53]

One of the few upsides to printed license plates, right?

oh, if the offending text were embossed, I'd flatten it in a press.

[1995hoo]

I did see a Texas plate in Cozumel once, however. You'd really have to be staying for a long time to make that worthwhile. The car ferry is a notorious nuisance.

do you mean a ferry just to get to the island ... or a ferry across the Gulf from Florida or something?

The one to get to the island. Apparently the vehicle ferry doesn't run every day, is unbelievably slow, and, at least in the past, it didn't take reservations and (understandably) gave priority to things like food delivery trucks and the like, so there was no guarantee you'd get on the ferry even if you started queuing six to ten hours in advance.

[corco]

They're still pretty obvious–or at least, they seem it to those of us here in the DC area, but we see so many of them that they're recognizable as diplomat plates at a glance. I suppose in other parts of the country it would be a different matter, much like the tribal tags bugo mentions. I've never seen one of those, and I've never seen a Mexican plate in the United States (or Canada), but given where I live the odds of seeing them are far lower than they would be in a place like Texas or Arizona. (I did see a Texas plate in Cozumel once, however. You'd really have to be staying for a long time to make that worthwhile. The car ferry is a notorious nuisance.)

It's really weird how that works. I'd never seen a Mexican plate in the US either until I moved down here, but now I see about a twenty Sonoras every day on my trip to work, three or four Sinaloas, and usually at least one Jalisco every day. Jalisco is the state Guadalajara is in. It's a much longer, more sketchy drive from Guadalajara to Tucson than it is from, say, Juarez to Denver, but I never saw a Chihuahua plate in Denver.