Rick's U.S. State Anniversary Plates

As far as I know, Maryland was the first state to promote their anniversary on vehicle license plates. The colony of Maryland was established in 1634 at St. Mary's City. Before the mid-1950s, North American plate sizes were not standardized; this one is 15 inches across, rather than the 12 inch width used today.

The plate shown is half of a stunning pair of mint condition plates that a visitor to this site donated to my collection. Thank you, Twyla! The 1949 Minnesota plates were made from thin, unpainted aluminum. The waffle weave pattern made the plate sturdier, but the paint on the numbers didn't stick to it very well in actual use. These plates recognized the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Minnesota as a territory. Minnesota achieved statehood in 1858.

Ohio's 1953 plate announced its 150th anniversary of statehood without any slogans or graphics. Back then, different serial formats were issued in various parts of the state. This format identified the motorist as being from the northwestern portion of Ohio, near Toledo.

Kansas was admitted to the Union in 1861. Both its 1960 and 1961 plates commemorated the centennial of that event. The 1960 plate is from Riley County; the 1961 plate is from Lane County.

This plate celebrates the founding of St. Augustine by Spain in 1565. St. Augustine was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States. The gold on red colors are the school colors of Florida State University. The "4" means this plate was issued to a resident of Pinellas County.

1966 Indiana passenger plates proclaimed the 150th anniversary of statehood. The number(s) to the left of the little letter indicate the county; in this case, "29" is for Hamilton County. This serial number format began in 1963 and continues to the present day. I could use an upgrade of this plate.

Nebraska's 100th anniversary of statehood was in 1967, but the state issued these Centennial plates with only the year "66" on them. The plate was then kept current with stickers for 1967 and 1968. The "76" prefix indicates this plate was issued in Dundy County. This is another plate in need of an upgrade.

The U.S. bought the land that is now the state of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for the sum of $7.2 million. At the time, this transaction was ridiculed as being a huge waste of money. This base was issued in 1966 and renewed in 1967 with a sticker.

Illinois achieved statehood in the year 1818, and this plate recognizes the sesquicentennial of that event. Illinois was apparently very modest about announcing this milestone; the sole indication that this is an anniversary plate are the numbers "18" in each of the upper corners, which together make up the year 1818.

This plate commemorates the first permanent colonial settlement in what is now South Carolina in 1670. The first two serial characters are letters, and the last four are numbers; you can readily see that the letter O and the number 0 are indistinguishable with these serial dies.

Colorado became a state in 1876, so this red, white, and blue plate with the "76" separator actually celebrates the statehood centennial, rather than the U.S. Bicentennial as you might assume. The base plate is dated 1975, and this example has a "76" sticker covering the "75". This plate was issued in Jefferson County, based on the serial prefix.

Maryland again celebrated their anniversary through license plates during the mid-1980s. This commemorative plate was an extra-cost optional issue in 1983 and 1984, and could be renewed through September 1987. This particular plate once adorned my 1980 Datsun 210. You can tell from the low registration number that I was one of the early motorists to get this plate.

These plates celebrate the 150th anniversary of Texas' independence from Mexico. In 1836, the Republic of Texas became an independent country, and remained so until 1845 when it joined the U.S. There were two versions of passenger plates made: the earlier version with "Sesquicentennial" at the bottom edge, shown at top left, and the later version with the word "Sesquicentennial" at the top, shown at bottom left. My guess is that the legend was moved due to it frequently being hidden by license plate frames. There were also a few other versions of the background sheeting that were used on vanity and non-passenger plates.

North Dakota and South Dakota were both admitted to the Union on the same day in 1889, but no one knows which was first. President Harrison deliberately shuffled the papers before signing them. This plate was the standard issue in North Dakota from 1987 to 1992, and was replaced upon expiration in 1993.

This plate was the standard South Dakota plate for several years starting in 1987. The "19" in the upper left corner has a matching "87" under the stickers in the upper right corner. The "63" serial prefix indicates the motorist resided in Walworth County. There's a second version of this plate which has the legend "Celebrate the Century" across the top center.

Montana was admitted to the Union in 1889. This was an optional-issue plate to commemorate the statehood centennial. It's no longer issued, but can still be renewed. The "5" preceding the letters in the serial number identifies this plate as being from Lewis and Clark County.

Although this plate leaves you guessing as to when the centennial actually might be, in fact the state of Washington was also admitted to the Union in 1889.

Idaho introduced this extra-cost optional plate in 1987. Similar to Maryland's 350th Anniversary plate, it was so well-received that it became the basis for the design of the subsequent general issue plate. There were several versions of this centennial plate, with various serial dies and formats.

This undated plate acknowledges Texas' 150th anniversary of statehood, which was celebrated in 1995. These plates were only issued for a few months in late 1995 and early 1996. Texas stopped using plate stickers in 1994.

Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796. This plate commemorates the 200th anniversary of statehood with a clever play on the letters "tenn" in "Bicentennial" also being the abbreviation for Tennessee. The "95" expiration is a sticker that appears to have been placed in the sticker well during the manufacturing process.

Iowa issued two completely different optional plates to celebrate its 150th anniversary - a rather plain red, white, and blue design, and a more colorful graphic plate featuring a city skyline in the background and a tree in the foreground. Either plate cost $15 above the normal registraiton fees. What prompted Iowa to offer both designs, I don't know.

This optional-issue plate commemorates Utah's admission to the Union in 1896. The plate has proven very popular with Utah motorists, and it was available to new registrants until 2007. Now a plate with a similar design, but without the centennial legend, has taken its place. On very early versions of the anniversary plate, the state name was white, outlined in navy blue. It was soon changed to solid navy to improve legibility.

Wisconsin also issued an optional graphic plate to celebrate the 150th anniversary of statehood, depicting a lake scene. The month and year stickers actually belong in the opposite positions.

The legend on this plate redundantly proclaims "Sesquicentennial - 150 Years" without specifying the date or the event being celebrated. It was issued to all new registrants from January 1998 to November 2000. The plate apparently recognizes the 150th anniversary of two events in California history - its acquisition by the U.S. from Mexico in 1848, and its statehood in 1850. Not to mention the gold rush of 1849. This particular plate was issued to my 1998 Chevy Malibu.

The Louisiana Purchase was actually a vast portion of land covering about the middle third of the continental U.S. that we bought from France in 1803. Its namesake state occupies just a small portion of this area.

This plate was issued to celebrate Ohio's entry to the Union in 1803. Incidentally, the Wright Brothers' first flight, alluded to by the "Birthplate of Aviation" slogan, occurred in 1903, Ohio's centennial year, but in North Carolina.

Virginia got an early start celebrating the anniversary of the first English settlement in the new world, which occured in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. In 2002, 400th Anniversary plates with the small red ship logo became the state's standard-issue plate. During the first few months of issuance, some plates were made from the leftover previous standard plate blanks with the blue state name. These all had the red text at the bottom either painted on, as in the case of the plate shown at top left, or added as a decal applied to to the plate. Subsequently, these anniversary plates were consistently made using the new blanks with the red state name and screened text at the bottom.

In May 2006, a more elaborate and colorful 400th Anniversary plate was introduced with the revised slogan "Jamestown, America's 400th Anniversary". Again, these are standard-issue plates issued to all new registrants.