Rick Kretschmer's License Plate Archives

A Pictorial History of Maryland License Plates
Passenger Car Plates Dated 1954 to Present
(including special interest plates issued to passenger cars)

Maryland Index
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My "Pictorial History" pages are intended to be a supplement to the information found in the ALPCA Archives. I am providing additional details and additional photos not found in the archives, and clarifying information when appropriate. When the ALPCA archives cover a subject in great detail, I do not repeat that detail here. I sincerely hope that you find this information useful. If you find an error or have additional information, or can provide a plate or a photo of a plate that I'm missing, please send me an e-mail. There's a link to my e-mail address at the bottom of every page.

Mouse over any image to see a description of the plate. Click on any image to see an enlarged version.

On this page - Maryland passenger car plates dated 1954 to present:
Introduction
Maryland passenger car plates dated 1954-1956
Maryland passenger car plates dated 1957-1970
Maryland passenger car plates dated 1971-1975
Maryland standard-issue and special interest passenger car plates from 1976-1987
Maryland standard-issue and special interest passenger car plates from 1987-present
Related links

Sample plates - Now moved to the Maryland License Plate General Information page

Introduction

From 1938 until present, Maryland license plates have displayed the year of expiration rather than the year of issuance. From 1939 until 1986, all passenger cars expired annually on March 31. In some years, the expiration month or month and date were indicated, at other times only the expiration year was shown. All Maryland plates, excluding motorcycle plates, from 1937 through 1956 expirations were 13 inches wide by 6 inches high. The 1957 expiration plates were the first to conform to the national standard size of 12 inches wide by 6 inches high. All Maryland passenger plates since those expiring in 1956 have been issued in pairs. The 1954 and 1955 plates were issued as singles.

The letters I, O, Q, and U have never been used on Maryland regular passenger car serial numbers. However, at least some of these letters have been used on organizational and non-passenger plates in rare instances. Of course, these letters are available for use on vanity plates. Vanity plates were introduced on the dated 1971 base plate.

This page primarily addresses Maryland passenger plates. However, it's nearly impossible to fully cover passenger plates without also covering organizational plates, since until 1986 most organizational plates were simply standard-format passenger plates with specific reserved serial prefixes. But now that I've moved organizational and military-related plates to their own page, they are now only mentioned in passing on this page. Just FYI, all current graphic image plates that are otherwise made on the standard white base are either organizational or military-related plates.

Some optional-issue special interest plates are covered on this page. These plates have completely different backgrounds than standard-issue plates. All of thse have been issued in passenger as well as non-passenger types; this page specifically addresses only the passenger car versions. As a rule, non-passenger plates are addressed in the appropriate section of one of the Maryland non-passenger plate pages.

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Maryland passenger car plates dated 1954-1956

The Maryland plates issued in March 1953 and expiring in March 1954 had a number of differences from prior years. These dated 1954 plates were the first Maryland passenger plates to have an alpha-numeric format serial number, rather than an all-numeric serial. Also for the first time, trucks and some other non-passenger vehicles were issued plates with a serial format distinct from those of passenger cars.

With the obvious exception of motorcycle plates, all Maryland license plates dated 1954 through 1956 were 13 inches wide by 6 inches high, and had an embossed border, long bolt slots, "Maryland" at the top, a two-digit expiration year centered at the bottom, embossed separator(s) whose shape varied from year to year, and distinctive serial dies not used before or since. All types of plates from a given year share the same color scheme and separator shape. All regular passenger plates, and most organizational plates, are in the format xx-00-00, but the only letters used were A through L, excluding the letter I. Lead zeroes were not used.

1954	- yellow on black	- short dash separators	- |tab slots|
1955	- black on yellow	- diamond separators	- |tab slots|
1956	- burgundy on white	- colon separators	- no tab slots

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Maryland passenger car plates dated 1957-1970

1957-1964 Passenger Plates

The various states' motor vehicle departments all agreed to standardize the size of passenger car plates across the country in the mid-1950s. This new standard called for plates to be 12 inches long by 6 inches high, and with 7 inches horizontally between the centers of the bolt holes. The 1957 expiration plates were the first Maryland plates to conform to these regulations. Virtually all Maryland license plates from this period had an embossed border, long bolt slots, "Maryland" at the top, "Exp-" followed by a specific expiration date at the bottom, embossed separator(s) whose shape varies from year to year. All types of plates from a given year shared the same color scheme and separator shape. All regular passenger plates and samples, and most organizational plates, were in the format xx-00-00, and all of these have a 3-31 expiration date. Lead zeroes were not used; each series most likely began with plate number 10-01. The serial dies first seen in 1956 on 1957-expiration plates were used continuously until mid-year 1974.

It's been said that the black on light green color scheme of the dated 1961 plates resulted in a lot of complaints from unhappy motorists, and that's why this color combination was never repeated. I was too young to remember these myself. Again, the only letters used were between A and L through the 1961 expirations. Beginning with the dated 1962 plate, any letter A to Z could be used, except for I, O, Q, or U. Because more letters were used in the second position, the first position letter didn't get past G, H, or J, depending on the year, except for organizational reserved series.

Late-issue 1964 expiration plates were made with the short bolt slots found on 1965-1970 expiration plates.

1957	- dark green on cream	- short dash separators	|	1961	- black on light green	- colon separators
1958	- cream on dark green	- short dash separators	|	1962	- blue on white	- short dash separators
1959	- blue on white	- colon separators	|	1963	- white on blue	- diamond separators
1960	- white on blue	- diamond separators	|	1964	- blue on white	- colon separators

1965-1970 Passenger Plates

The dated 1965 plates differed from the dated 1964 plates in several subtle ways. First, the state name and expiration date switched positions. Second, the separator between the second and third numeric digits disappeared. And third, the bolt slots were made noticeably shorter. The embossed separator between the letters and numbers was changed to a space on the 1970 expiration plates.

1965	- white on blue	- long dash separator	|	1968	- blue on white	- long dash separator
1966	- black on yellow	- diamond separator	|	1969	- white on blue	- diamond separator
1967	- yellow on black	- colon separator	|	1970	- blue on white	- space separator

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Maryland passenger car plates dated 1971-1975

Two 1975 plates are shown, with old and new serial dies, respectively.

The white on blue dated 1971 plate was introduced in the spring of 1970; the embossed "71" indicated the initial expiration year. This base plate was then renewed annually with stickers indicating the expiration years "72" through "75". Year stickers were used on both the front and rear plates. All plates in this era, regardless of when actually issued, contained the embossed "71". During 1974 (some natural 1975 expirations only), the serial number dies were changed in preparation for the new general replacement plates to be issued in March 1975. The new characters were shorter, narrower, and more boxy shaped than the previous characters. These dies introduced in 1974 continue to be used to the present day.

Maryland license plates from this period were white on blue, and had an embossed border, bolt holes rather than slots, an embossed "71" in the lower left corner, "Maryland" at the bottom center, and an embossed sticker box in the lower right corner, and used only a space separator. All regular passenger plates and samples, and most organizational plates, were in the format xx 0000 and continued to expire on March 31 of each year. Samples have all zeroes in the numeric positions; otherwise, lead zeroes are not used. All plates regardless of type used the same stickers.

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Maryland standard-issue and special interest passenger car plates from 1976-1987

Maryland standard-issue license plates from this period continued with an embossed border and round bolt holes, and only a space serial separator. Passenger plates continued to expire on March 31 of each year. The embossed "Maryland" and sticker box were relocated to the top of the plate, with the sticker box remaining on the right side of the plate. All regular passenger plates, and most organizational plates, were given a new serial format xxx 000, and regular-issue serial numbers with lead zeroes were introduced.

1976-1980 Standard-Issue Passenger Plates

Two 1980 plates are shown, with and without the red-bordered sticker box, respectively.

The red on white undated plate was a general replacement introduced in March 1975; unlike the previous base, there was no expiration year indicated. However, the undated base plate was valid without stickers until March 1976. Both front and rear plates were then renewed annually with year stickers indicating the expiration years "77" through "80". During the last year of issuance of the red on white base plate, the sticker box embossing height was reduced so that it was still raised but no longer painted red. This lower-height sticker box continued with the black on white plate.

In about early 1979, a new vehicle class was introduced for multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs). This new class included SUVs, passenger vans, and motor homes. These vehicles had all previously been issued car plates. The car plates for these vehicles were replaced with MPV plates, some in March 1979 on the red and white base with 1980 expiration, and the remainder in March 1980 on the undated black and white base expiring in 1981. MPV license plates are covered in their own section on the Maryland miscellaneous personal vehicle plate page. Although MPV plates are for specific passenger vehicle types, they more closely resemble plates used for true non-passenger vehicles. MPV plates continue to be issued today. See a first generation MPV plate.

1981-1987 Standard-Issue Passenger Plates

Two 1986 plates are shown, with normal and wide spacing between serial letters and numbers, respectively.

The black on white undated plate was a general replacement introduced in March 1980. Likewise, this plate did not indicate an expiration, and was valid without stickers until March 1981. Both front and rear plates were then renewed annually with year stickers indicating the expiration years "82" through "86". This plate was issued to new applicants through January 1986. During the last year of issuance of the black on white plate, the space separating the letters and numbers was widened as was being done on the new graphic plate being produced as an upcoming general replacement.

White on red "86" stickers expired at the end of March 1986. At this point, the conversion to staggered registration began, and this plate was renewed one last time, with month and year stickers on the rear plate only, to a date falling between October 1986 and September 1987. This conversion is covered more fully below.

Black on white plates in series HNA through HNE were issued out of sequence during 1980, the first year of this base. It has been stated by some knowledgeable collectors that these were organizational plates for the Holy Name Society. But the HNA-HNE prefixes were just beyond the HMx series that was the highest actually distributed on the red and white base. For that and other reasons, I believe that the HNA to HNE series plates were actually leftovers from the red on white base, that had been stamped but never distributed, and were then painted black on white and cleared out of the warehouse. Or perhaps both were partly true - perhaps the HNA plates were organizational and the HNB through HNE plates were leftovers. We may never know for sure, unless someone can provide additional information about these plates.

1976-1987 Special Interest Passenger Plates

The extra-cost U.S. Bicentennial base plate was Maryland's first graphic plate. As you can see from this example, the off-white reflective background has tended to yellow with age. All elements were screened execpt for the serial number. Serial numbers were in the format 000 xxx and lead zeroes were used. This plate was available only for private passenger vehicles. It was valid until March 1976 without stickers, and until March 1980 with stickers. The stickers were the same as those used on the standard red on white base. As far as I know, this plate was issued with natural 1976 and 1977 expirations only. One report from that time period states that the plate was available from December 1975 through February 1977, which is consistent with my understanding.

The extra-cost 350th anniversary base plate was Maryland's second graphic plate. This plate has not yellowed with age as the bicentennial plates have. All elements were screened except for the serial number. Serial numbers were in the format 000*xxx, with the asterisk indicating the location of the graphic shield separator. Lead zeroes were used. This plate was available for private passenger cars (and also multi-purpose passenger vehicles in a different serial format). This plate was introduced in the summer of 1983, and was offered in 1983 and 1984 (and possibly January and February 1985) only. I tried to get one for my wife's car in June 1985 and was turned away. This plate was valid until March 1984 without stickers, and was updated with annual stickers for March 1985 and March 1986 expirations on both the front and rear. Stickers were the same as were used on the standard black and white embossed base. Correct renewal sticker location was in the lower right corner, so as not to cover the screened "1634" and "1984" dates in the upper corners, but there was no sticker box or well to provide guidance. Many motorists were confused about the correct sticker location, since it differed from the standard-issue plates, and placed their renewal year stickers in the upper right corner, covering the screened "1984". This plate, like the standard black and white base of the same time period, was converted to staggered registration with month and year stickers applied to the rear plate only, extending its life one final registration period to a new expiration date falling between October 1986 and September 1987.

1986-1987 Conversion to Staggered Expiration Dates

Two different 1986 stickers: For passenger cars, the white on red "86" sticker expired March 1986. The black on white "86" sticker was only valid with an accompanying month sticker, and could expire in October, November, or December 1986. Both the standard base and optional 350th Anniversary base were affected similarly. Red on white "87" stickers were also issued to both of these bases, and could expire between January and September 1987, based on the accompanying month sticker.

From 1939 to 1986, all passenger car license plates expired in and were renewed in March. License plates for passenger cars owned by individuals that were renewed in March 1986 were assigned a staggered expiration date 7 to 18 months out. Generally, the new expiration month was assigned based on the first letter of the owner's last name. Registration fees were prorated based on the length of the registration period. Month stickers, which consisted of a white month number on a red background, were issued for the first time. A new black on white 1986 year sticker was issued for those plates assigned October through December. (The 1986 sticker that expired in March was white on orangish-red.) Company-owned passenger cars continued to expire in March and were issued a "3" month sticker along with an "87" year sticker. Month stickers and their corresponding year stickers were placed on the rear only, unlike the year stickers prior to this time which were placed both front and back. The black on white 1986 sticker and the 1987 sticker were larger than previous years' stickers and did not completely fit into the embossed sticker box on the standard base plates.

Black on white embossed "Maryland" license plates and 350th anniversary plates, with a month sticker and either a black on white 1986 year sticker or a 1987 year sticker, are renewals only; there were no naturals of these bases with these stickers. For all practical purposes, the black on white 1986 sticker was only used for renewals of the old style plates. (There are reports of apparently natural 1986 stickers found on the graphic standard-issue base first issued in February 1986, but these would be very rare. I saw maybe one or two of these on the streets of Maryland during 1986. Perhaps new-style plates with 1986 expirations were issued to people who had converted their old plates to a staggered registration that exipred in late 1986, and then had these old-style plates stolen before they expired.)

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Maryland standard-issue and special interest passenger car plates from 1987-present

Maryland standard-issue license plates from this period do not have an embossed border, nor do they have sticker boxes or wells. The plates are black on reflective white, with a screened script "Maryland" at the top center, holograms running vertically down the center of the plate which contain "MD" and a two-digit year of manufacture. Passenger car plates, and some non-passenger plates, have a four-color graphic shield resembling the state flag in the center of the plate. Month and year expiration stickers are applied to the upper corners of the rear plate only.

Although this plate very closely resembles the optional-issue 350th anniversary plate used issued in 1983 and 1984 (and used thoguh September 1987), it in fact became the new standard-issue Maryland plate upon its introduction in February 1986.

1987-2007 Standard-Issue Passenger Car Plates

Two 2006 plates are shown, with old and new serial formats, respectively.

From February to September 1986, this plate was issued to new registrants only. Serials began in the "N" series to avoid conflicting with the previous base plates which were still in use. The new design was then also issued as a general replacement plate from October 1986 to September 1987. Generally speaking, "N" series plates were issued in 1986 to new registrants only; "P" through mid-"V" series were issued between October 1986 and September 1987 both to new registrants and as replacements for current registrants renewing their registrations, and then beginning October 1987 from the mid-"V" series forward were again only issued to new registrants. This base plate is considered to be permanent and is still used today.

Correct sticker placement is in the upper corners, but early issues (primarily "N" and "P" series) of this plate are often found with the stickers in the lower corners. Motorists were again confused after finally getting the concept that the stickers went in the lower corners on the similar 350th anniversary plate.

All regular passenger plates issued between February 1986 and late September 2004 have the serial format xxx*000 (the * indicates the location of the shield separator). Passenger serials began in the "N" series in 1986, so as not to conflict with the serials of the previous base which had gotten up to the KHN series and were scheduled to remain on the road through September 1987. I have no idea why Maryland chose to start in the "N" series rather than "L" or "M", though. When serial ZZZ*999 was reached in 1992, the previous bases were by then off the road, and so the serial number rolled over to AAA*001 and continued. Or perhaps it rolled over to AAB*001; one source states that the Motor Vehicle Administration decided against issuing plates with prefix AAA on this base.

Rental cars were issued different plates distinct from passenger plates between approximately 1991 and 1995. See a rental car plate here. The stacked letters "D/R" were constant, and reportedly stood for "daily rental". In about 1995, these plates were recalled and rental cars were again issued standard passenger plates.

Mandatory two-year registrations were phased in between July 1992 and June 1994 for individual passenger car owners. Company owned passenger cars, which continue to have fixed March expirations, also continue with one-year registrations. Typically these are rental cars. A Maryland passenger plate with a March expiration whose serial number does not seem to indicate a March issuance was probably issued to a rental car, or at least a company car of some type. The 1991 plate shown above is an examples of this. The plate is a natural, but its serial indicates it should have been issued approximately September 1990. Similarly, a plate with a March expiration in the mid 1990s or later that seems to have an expiration date one year too soon would also be a rental or company car.

Some Maryland plates with 1999 through 2003 expirations may be found with rather strange-looking year stickers. These were issued in very small quantities from self-service kiosks found in various malls and shopping centers throughout the state, for renewals only. Sticker colors were not consistent even within the same year, but all of these stickers had black characters on either white, blue, or green backgrounds. I don't know whether the kiosks were eventually modified to dispense standard stickers, or whether they've been discontinued and removed entirely. The ALPCA archives cover these stickers in greater detail.

In September 2004, after over 18 years, the familiar xxx*000 serial format was finally exhausted upon reaching serial MZZ*999, and a new passenger plate serial format 0xx*x00 was begun. In this format, all numbers change before any letters do; however, the number zero is never used in the first position. Presumably, then, the first serial in this format was 1AA*A01 or something close to it. When 1AA*A99 was reached, the next plate was 2AA*A01; when 9AA*A99 was reached, the next plate was 1AA*B01. This format should serve the state for another 15 or 20 years before running out of numbers.

The last of the passenger plates with no web site at the bottom were issued in the spring of 2005, with the highest plate number at about 9AK*Z99. The latest natural expirations would therefore be in the spring of 2007.

2006-present Standard-Issue Passenger Car Plates

Plate number 2CN*K20 was made with New Jersey serial dies. (2008 New Jersey die plate and 2009 plate are candid photos of plates in actual use)

Beginning in February 2005 at about plate number 1AL*A01, another change to Maryland standard-issue passenger plates made it appearance. The address of the state government's web site, www.maryland.gov, was added to the bottom of the plates The web address is screened using the same slanted font as had been previously used on non-passenger and organizational plates that bear identifying legends. Since some plates are issued for one-year registration periods, some of these early plates had initial expiration dates in 2006. The majority had natural 2007 expirations.

Maryland passenger plates began to be seen with New Jersey-style serial dies beginning in November 2006. New Jersey die characters are much more squared-off than the rounded Maryland die characters. The word is that Maryland had New Jersey stamp out a total of 30,000 plate pairs for them, due to the Maryland plate manufacturing facility at the state prison in Jessup being shut down for three weeks due to inmate unrest. Passenger plates with New Jersey dies were issued with serial numbers between approximately 1CN*A01 and 9CN*Z99. Maryland dies resumed being issued in December 2006 at about serial number 1CP*A01, but New Jersey die plates continued to be issued into January 2007.

1991-present Special Interest Passenger Car Plates

1992 first generation Chesapeake passenger; 2004 Our Farms passenger (Chuck Bedall plate); 2008 second generation Chesapeake passenger (candid photo of plate in use)

Although Maryland offers many hundreds of different plate styles to motorists, nearly all of them are actually organizational plates that are distributed through various organizations to their members, employees, and donors. There are actually only two special interest plates offered. Well, three, if you count the two versions of the Chesapeake Bay plate.

I'm including the special interest plates on the passenger plate page because Maryland offers passenger as well as non-passenger versions of all three plates. I'm actually covering just the passenger versions on this page, and address the non-passenger special interest plates in their respective articles on the non-passsenger plate pages.

The original extra-cost "Treasure the Chesapeake" plate made its debut in early 1990, and was issued until late 2003 or possibly January 2004. All elements are screened execpt for the serial number. This plate was available for passenger cars as well as certain types of non-passenger vehicles and for handicapped persons. Passenger cars serial numbers are in the format 000*xxx, and lead zeroes are used. Serials began at 001*AAB and reportedly continued up to 899*BNN before this base was discontinued. Other vehicle types have different serial formats on this base. The colors are green embossed characters, and blue and green graphics, on a reflective, mostly white background that fades to light blue at the bottom. The prominent graphic is a blue heron bird which appears between the numbers and letters on regular passenger plates. The heron is omitted on some other versions of this plate. Although they are no longer issued, it seems that these old-style Chesapeake plates will remain in use indefinitely.

A white on green month sticker was introduced for use on this plate, rather than the normal white on red month sticker used on the standard-issue plate, to better coordinate with the plate colors. For the same reason, during the first few years of this plate's existence, the year stickers were also of different colors than the standard-issue plate. However, beginning with the 1996 sticker, all Maryland plates, standard or otherwise, have generally been issued the same color year stickers.

The "Our Farms, Our Future" special interest plate was introduced in early 2001. This plate is affectionately known as the "ag tag"; proceeds benefit the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation. All elements are screened except for the serial number. This plate is available for passenger cars as well as certain types of non-passenger vehicles and for handicapped persons. The passenger car serial format is A000000, but, departing from tradition, this format is also issued to some other vehicle types as well, including multi-purpose vehicles and trucks. Lead zeroes are used. Trailer plates also have the same format but are restricted to the A900000 series. The colors are black embossed characters on a background that fades from orange at the top to yellow at the bottom, with a farm scene at the bottom of the plate featuring red buildings and green trees. This plate did not receive its own color stickers. It seems pretty evenly split between agricultural plates bearing the white on red standard month sticker, and those bearing the white on green Chesapeake month sticker.

On January 20, 2004, the Motor Vehicle Administration introduced a new design for the successful "Treasure the Chesapeake" issue. This plate, like its predecessor, benefits the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The new Chesapeake plate features black characters on a background fading from blue at the top to white at the bottom, with a heron sea bird on the left side of the plate, and a crab at the lower right corner. The standard serial format is 00000x/x; this format is being used for passenger cars, multi-purpose vehicles, and trucks, similar to the agricultural plate. The initial suffix letters were C/B; these were exhausted fairly quickly. Later in 2004, suffix letters B/Y were then introduced, and then about the first of the year 2006, B/Y gave way to C/A. In July 2007, the C/A suffix was used up, and now suffix C/C is being issued. (Wait, they forgot to use B/Z!) This plate, like the agricultural plate, seems to be inconsistently issued with either the white on red month sticker or the white on green month sticker, although I've seen more of these with the green month sticker.

Back to Maryland passenger car plates dated 1910 to 1953
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Related links

Related pages on this site
A Pictorial History of North Carolina Passenger Car Plates, 1956 to Present
A Pictorial History of Pennsylvania Passenger Car Plates, 1958 to Present

Maryland passenger car license plates elsewhere on the web
The License Plate Gallery - Maryland Passenger Plates page by Tim O'Connor
The Plate Shack - Maryland section by Marc Welby

Maryland Index
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