Which state has the best-looking license plates?

I'm sad to report that my inspiration for writing this item, the Canadian territory of Nunavut, has sense changed the shape of its license plates from this:

To this:

Here's a full set of current ones for reference:

We could also get into functional differences. Vermont plates that work around title issues? Tax-free Montana plates? Honorary mention to Ontario's briefly-issued accidental stealth plates?

In reply to Colin Wood :

That's because the Northwest Territories told them to berkeley off (not really but apparently until 2012 Nunavut licensed the plate design from them but the dies were wearing out so they decided to go their own way with the plate above).

So, that plate is still used in the Northwest Territories. 

Call me biased:

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Of the current plates, I’m always going with New Hampshire: Live free or die. 

Colorado or Alaska

Honestly, I want the dullest, most bland license plate possible in whatever color best hides on my car. Luckily, I don't have to run a front plate in NC, but I'd be even more picky if I did.

New Mexico has some real bangers. I love the chile pepper one

I like the old NY Statue of Liberty plate.

I have about all 50 state plates decorating the upper walls of my garage, including some very old plates, European plates, motorcycle plates, etc.  I even have a sheriff's association plate on one of my cars (sort of a get-out-of-a-speeding-ticket card for NC where I live, but it does not work in SC--be warned). 

Most standard issue plates are boring, but some states have become more aware of this and are offering a greater variety, but mostly at a cost to the owner.

As far as STANDARD ISSUE plates are concerned, I am drawn to MD plates where the crest or colors of their flag show up--it's almost medieval looking;the MD flag is amazing looking in my opinion and one of my faves.  

My license plate pet peeve: URLs on them. 

www.visitcoloradoforfunandadventure/colorado.2023/state.gov

GameboyRMH said:

Here's a full set of current ones for reference:

 

Not so much a "full set" as it is a representative sample. MD, for instance, has about 40 different plate designs, from organizational to "save the bay" and MD Farmers" plates, all that have different graphics and colors on them.

adam525i said:

In reply to Colin Wood :

That's because the Northwest Territories told them to berkeley off (not really but apparently until 2012 Nunavut licensed the plate design from them but the dies were wearing out so they decided to go their own way with the plate above).

So, that plate is still used in the Northwest Territories. 

Ah. The Northwest Territories is the plate I must have originally been thinking of.

Thank you for cleaning that up.

Colin Wood said:

adam525i said:

In reply to Colin Wood :

That's because the Northwest Territories told them to berkeley off (not really but apparently until 2012 Nunavut licensed the plate design from them but the dies were wearing out so they decided to go their own way with the plate above).

So, that plate is still used in the Northwest Territories. 

Ah. The Northwest Territories is the plate I must have originally been thinking of.

Thank you for cleaning that up.

Iirc they're also just numbered sequentially, so you can tell how old they are by the number. I remember seeing double digits in Yellowknife, can't remember if I saw a single digit one or not. I think I remember seeing #7. 

Chris_V said:

GameboyRMH said:

Here's a full set of current ones for reference:

 

Not so much a "full set" as it is a representative sample. MD, for instance, has about 40 different plate designs, from organizational to "save the bay" and MD Farmers" plates, all that have different graphics and colors on them.

 

CO introduced a throwback black plate with white letters. It looks incredibly generic and is very popular. Janel wants one for the black cars :) I think it would cost $7 to get one. 

In reply to NickD :

That is one of my favorites too. I would love that plate but not enough to move to New Mexico. 

Pennsylvania's Niagara plate is easily the best, especially if stealth is what you're after.  

Florida's Endless Summer plate is a personal favorite of mine.

Michigan has gone through a bunch of different plates in the past 20 years, from this plain blue to the boring white to the "bridge" plate that was probably the best of the past 10 years or so:

But last year, they brought back this classic:

That's what all my cars are now wearing.

Ours are a lovely bland. 

One of my favorites of my personal collection is the old green CO rocky plates. 

I also have a Hawaii rainbow plate, which might be retiring next year

Pictures not actually mine, just for reference. I should photograph my collection though. I have almost 40 states I think, including some hard ones like Hawaii and North Dakota.

j_tso said:

I like the old NY Statue of Liberty plate.

I like the ones where the statue is on the left. One in particular of course.

In reply to maschinenbau :

I saw a Hawaii plate driving around the countryside west of Charlotte once. I think it was a beat up old GM minivan. I have no idea how it got there.

I'm enjoying the new Smokey Bear ones here in Oregon: 

Living 6 months a year in CA I have learned to hate the plate white with red script plate.

Utah's plate with Delicate Arch is pretty cool

NC has one speciality plate I can't love enough

I've always liked the 80s California "sunshine" plates, the ones like this.  A decade or so ago they brought back the black "60s" plates as a retro thing -- I wonder if the "radwood" scene can convince them to make 80s style plates again?

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

Oh, I really like that one.  Would definitely pay the premium to put it on my car.  

Big fan of Vermont's utilitarianism here: 

It really pops on certain cars. 

Also really like Tennessee's latest: 

I can’t remember if I have photos, but we used to have a collector nearby who had all the states, all the years, all the everything. The collection covered the walls of several buildings with everything in order.

We visited after his passing, too, and I recall seeing boxes upon boxes of plates. No idea where they went. 

wisconsin's recent road america plate is pretty cool

I was surprised to see this one pass here in Florida.

79rex said:

 

wisconsin's recent road america plate is pretty cool

That is pretty perfect. Subtle, classy, on target. 

David S. Wallens said:

I was surprised to see this one pass here in Florida.

You can get university plates here, too, but only Michigan-based. I think if someone put Ohio State on a Michigan plate, it would spontaneously burst into flames.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

Same here. Florida offers lots of plates for state institutions. When I saw this campaign come up in an alumni e-mail, I didn’t think it would pass. Yet here we are. 

I came to post the polar bear plate, not surprisingly that was the first one picked. After that the Statue of Liberty plate, and I like the colors on this New Mexico plate. 

The new Ohio ones are trash. The design is busy and too much like the Bob Evans plates no one liked either and printed plates look a lot worse than stamped ones. 

The coveted DE black plates around here. The lower the number, apparently the more $$$$...

Oh, plates. A topic I know far too much about, and have very strong opinions on. My father is a prolific collector and regional director of ALPCA. If you collect plates and live in the northeast, you know him. I believe he has somewhere on the order of 50,000 plates.

I have somewhere on the order of 300. less impressive.

My all time favourite was the FL Challenger plate. Good colors, great layout. Somber and beautiful

So of course it was replaced by the less interesting challenger plate (featuring the orbiter in space!) and eventually watered down to the meh Challenger-Columbia plate.

I had always been attracted to the screen prints, Utah and Wa come to mind.

But found after moving to WA, they lose their appeal when you see them on every single car. I vowed never to put one on my cars. My Daily wore a spectacular state park speciality:

And my Camaro wore a National park plate:

until such time as I found a proper 'year of Manufacture' plate

My least favourite plates are the conservative pearl clutching virtue signaling plates, although in conjunction with the right vanity can prove to be pretty funny

In regards to the NWT bear plates the only other Non-standard north american plate I am aware of is the early Tennessee plates:

I like black plates with white lettering.

Alaskan yellow Final Frontier or Bear Plates. New Mexico chili peppers plate is a close far behind.

My current fave...

My previous fave...

I might have a slight bias...

I like the MT plate from the standards posted above. 
 

I saw a Georgia plate with an OHIO STATE logo recently. WTF? Anything to make money I guess. 

https://mvd.dor.ga.gov/motor/plates/PlateDetails.aspx?pcode=SO

Toyman! said:

Ours are a lovely bland. 

I liked the sunrise palmetto plate better.

In reply to Turbo_Rev :

Also on the blue TN plate, numbers then letters will have in god we trust around the tri star logo. Letters then numbers will just have the tri star logo.

Kentucky had some facepalms and decent plates over the years...

But nothing beats that the Commonwealth got sued over the "Smiley" or teletubby plate, bottom right corner of the above image.

News article linky

Back when I was younger, living in Quebec, we got a new colour every year.....

I like the loon and the moose. 

Not it.  Also originally they had the Wright Bros flyer backwards.  At least they dropped the front plate just after I bought the Crosstrek, before the dealer drilled holes.

Most Wisconsin plates are pretty terrible.  Its been the same basic plate since I can remember.  Kind of busy, ugly colors. 

Collector car plates are baby blue with red lettering (gross)

Hobbyist (modified) car plates are forest green with yellow lettering (also gross)

We don't get the cool option to use a vintage plate for our vintage cars (even though a 1995 plate looks essentially identical to current except the main text is red instead of black)

Even our specialty plates are ugly - logo LH side, maximum 6 characters, white background for most of them.  

The Road America plate already linked up is a real winner.  Plain and simple, like a little black dress it goes good with everything. 

I was going to get the "Thank You Linesmen - Keeping the Lights On" plate for my wife's 4xe Jeep but I think the joke would be lost on most people.  But thats just an example of how ugly the bulk of our custom plates are.  

In reply to DeadSkunk:

I love those vintage Quebec plates!  The Fleur de lis is such a distinctive touch!  Wish we would do something like that here.  Many plates, especially the SC plates, are going to plastic instead of the metal embossed aluminum plates.  I mean, what are the inmates going to do with their time at the local penitentiary?  

Reminder: Old license plates sent in the GRM New Year's Gift Exchange seem to always be a pretty big hit.