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Early pelican plates had a longer state name that extends under the right bolt hole. Also, there was a watermark thread running through the head of the pelican. The design was modified slightly to move the thread to the right side of the plate so it would not run through the pelican. In the process, the state name was shortened enough that it ends before the bolt hole. NGK 569 was spotted in the original design with the longer state name. NMC 680 was spotted in the newer design with the shorter state name.

Stickers
black on white
Type Plate Notes Reporter
Pelican (std issue) XKK 352 NEW The Q and U series were skipped.
This is the new standard issue graphic with the pelican. It began with the NFV series. Chuck Crisler reports that OK/OL/OM prefixes have a larger Louisiana "lipstick" logo. There may be others as well. Wally Punzmann reports OJV 078 with the larger state name and security watermark thread down the middle. Bradley Gallagher reports a pelican with the larger state name in the NFX series.
VCR 700 was the highest reported pelican plate in 2011 before the change to the Bicentennial, but the pelican has resumed issue in 2013, taking up where the Bicentennial left off.
Low (after Bicentennial): WUM 246 2013-02-15 Francis Lapeyre 		Arthur Ghere
5/17/13
Bicentennial WUB516 Graphic of state and pelican on the left, with "1812 - 200 Years - 2012" slogan on bottom. The serial is shifted to the right on this plate, with no space between the letters and numbers.
Joey Hurd reports this series started at VDA000. This series began in early March 2011. Lowest spotted is VDA754 by Francis Lapeyre on 2011-03-30, but Francis also spotted VCU477 on this base with the large graphic on 2011-08-12, so it appears to have started before VDA.
Somewhere between VRW002 and VRZ508, the pelican-and-state graphic was made smaller (the first letter had been overlapping the graphic, making it harder to read.) Serial is still shifted to the right.
Update: VRU595 was spoted with the small graphic on 08/10/2011, so there doesn't appear to be a clean break from the large graphic and the smaller one.
Andrew Osborne reports VQX 839 in the small pelican design, and VQD 839 in the large pelican design.
As of January 2013, Louisiana has changed back to the pelican plate. 		Francis Lapeyre
2/19/13
Louisiana Purchase MSN 413 This was the standard issue plate for two years.
One report said the Purchase series began at KKR, but another shows it starting at KLL. Since our highest reported plain before the Purchase is KKW 056, that supports the starting point of the Purchase at KLL rather than KKR. Our lowest reported Purchase plate is KLL 586. The end of the Purchase plate is reported to be MSN. 		Wally Punzmann
10/04/09
Plain NFU xxx The plain style regular issue ended in the middle of the K series when the Louisiana Purchase issue began, but the plain style returned in the MTE through NFU series. NFV was spotted on the Pelican, so it is pretty certain that the plain ended at NFU, and at least one NFU was spotted on the plain.
Plain high before Louisiana Purchase - KKW 056 		Francis Lapeyre
12/27/04
Non-passenger Plates
Antique AT15281 Francis Lapeyre
1/05/12
Apportioned P208704 Changed to APPORTIONED across the bottom at some point before P200000.
Previously had PWR PERMANENT APP across bottom. First appeared in 2001 around P12nnnnn, issued annually prior to that. 		Francis Lapeyre
9/28/11
Boat Trailer K146208 Only for boat trailers with under a 1500 lb. GVWR. Anything larger must have a regular Trailer plate. Francis Lapeyre
3/04/13
City Use Truck M020072 CU TRUCK embossed on bottom. Francis Lapeyre
7/13/11
Commercial N334987 These used to be in the A prefix, which is exhausted. Mostly rental cars. The early A prefixes were Taxi. The early N prefixes were motor home.
Previous commercial series was A200000-A799999. Used (formerly) on autos registered to corporations, now mostly found on rental cars.
A7xxxxx commercial plates are apparently being issued concurrently with the N plates. 		Kyle Wasson
4/19/13
Dealer DI98403 Issued to new and used auto dealers. DI stands for "Dealer Inventory." Plates can be transferred between dealer-owned vehicles. Lipstick design, with "DEALER" embossed on bottom. Renewed annually in December with validation sticker.
Update- Dealer plates can now expire in any month. The validation sticker has a slightly narrower font than the standard sticker.
As of early 2012, stickers on Dealer plates seem to be using the new standard sticker (which has a wider font than the original stickers with the plate number on the bottom that were introduced in 2001.)

Francis Lapeyre reports that apparently Dealer Inventory plates are now all embossed (no screened lipstick state name like other issues), and are now black over light yellow. LOUISIANA embossed on top, DEALER on bottom, and the usual white month/year validation sticker at the lower right corner. The low for this style is DI64299 spotted on 2012-06-10.
Handicapped Dealer: HD0191 (wheelchair symbol to the left of serial; the HD prefix is embossed full-sized)
Update: These new all-embossed plates are black over dark yellow (not a bright yellow). LOUISIANA embossed on top; DEALER embossed on bottom. 		Francis Lapeyre
3/19/13
Handicapped ISA345602 Has small "wheelchair" symbol to the left of serial (in the state's OMV database with an H prefix; the H is printed on the validation sticker, but only the wheelchair symbol is on the plate.) Plain "Lipstick" base. This number series started in 1974.
There is an Institutional Handicapped plate. It has the wheelchair symbol, then serial. High spotted - 2269. Regular lipstick plate; INSTITUTIONAL embossed on bottom. Sticker prefix is IH (does not appear on plate.)
Handicapped - Commercial: %525 (wheelchair symbol before serial, COMMERCIAL embossed at bottom) 2011-08-30 Francis Lapeyre 		Francis Lapeyre
5/19/12
Hire Passenger A823926 This plate is issued to commercial buses that carry passengers for hire, taxis, and limousines. Hire Taxi and Hire Bus plates used to be in the in the A0xxxxx range. Now, both classes are issued "Hire Passenger" plates in this range. Lipstick design Francis Lapeyre
3/14/12
Motorcycle 540869 This series has been running since the 1980s. Francis Lapeyre
2/06/13
Private Bus N057256 Plain Lipstick base. Issued to motor homes, and to any bus that isn't a school bus and does not carry passengers for hire (for example, church buses). This plate also used to be in the early "A" series before that was exhausted. Francis Lapeyre
3/02/12
Private Truck X910424 Used on SUVs, vans, pickups. Started in 1978 as the T series. Progressed in this order: T, R, S, V, W, and now X. Y may not be used because it was used for Apportioned 5 year Trailer (mostly rental) in the 80s and 90s. That class of Trailer was discontinued in 2001, replaced by a Trailer plate with a PERM sticker for $70, or $10/year with a 1 year or 4 year registration.
Embossed PRIVATE legend replaced by screened "Sportman's Paradise" slogan somewhere in mid-W series. 		Francis Lapeyre
9/03/12
Public 231184 Statewide issue for all vehicles of any class owned by government entities (state, parish, or city). Permanent plate with no validation sticker, on the plain Lipstick base. Has the word "PUBLIC" stacked vertically to the left of the serial (plates below 100000 had "PUBLIC" stacked diagonally, slanting down to the right). Series has been running since 1974.
Public - Handicapped - 1555 (wheelchair logo before number) 		Francis Lapeyre
2/01/12
School Bus A102578 Another plate in the "A" range. This plate is issued to school buses that are not publicly owned. (All publicly-owned vehicles, regardless of class, have Public plates.) Francis Lapeyre
1/05/12
Temporary 15258495 Black on white. On the left is there are three tamper-resistant blocks for the expiration date - month, day, and year (filled out by the dealer with permanent marker). Valid for 60 days.
Francis Lapeyre
2/10/12
Tow-Recovery B015903 Reflective white on red embossed plate issued to tow trucks. Renewed with sticker annually in June.
Update - Plates can now expire in any month. Still white-on-red embossed. 		Francis Lapeyre
3/12/12
Trailer L558386 There are two classes of Trailer (Boat Trailer and Light Semi-Trailer) that are in the late D series, but they are rare. Most trailers have regular Trailer plates, presumably because it costs less to get a $70 permanent registration than to pay anuually for these types. It appears Boat Trailer was exhausted, so now they are appearing in the K00nnnn range and they are still very rare. Light Semi-Trailer is rare because it's for trailers under 500 lb GVWR. Boat Trailer plates must have a GVWR of less than 1500 lbs., but they aren't available with a PERM sticker.
It appears that D Trailer plates went through D499999, and then advanced to E000000-E999999, then L000000 to present.
Francis Lapeyre reports Light Semi-Trailer D380333 on 6/15/2012. He is not sure where they left off in the D series, but not many are left. 		Francis Lapeyre
6/24/12
Truck C061960 This plate series started at B100000 in June 1983. Old style was white on powder blue; currently on the plain Lipstick base. This plate is for any truck over 7,500 lbs. Trucks under that weight are issued X-prefix (formerly T, R, S and W) private truck plates.
Embossed TRUCK legend replaced by screened "Sportsman's Paradise" slogan somewhere around 500000.

Francis Lapeyre
5/01/13
Specialty Plates
Air Force Veteran
A
F
3710 		John Linahan
12/21/07
American Indian
A
I
471 		Issuance of specialty plates has evidently resumed after several year legal hiatus. Chuck Crisler
10/20/06
Animal Friendly
F
A
351 		Francis Lapeyre
5/26/10
Army Veteran
A
R
10871 		Graphic "ARMY" stacked on left, then A/R stacked prefix, followed by serial. On plates below A/R10000, "ARMY" is slanted diagonally, as is "PUBLIC" on older Public plates. Francis Lapeyre
7/14/11
Bear Environ.
B
B
7201 		Francis Lapeyre
7/08/10
Choose Life
C
L
1856 		Has an image of a pelican (instead of a stork) flying with baby in a bundle. "Choose Life" in blue "crayon" script at bottom. Francis Lapeyre
9/12/12
Disabled Veteran DV24519 This is a permanent plate on the lipstick base (no validation sticker.) Plates below DV10000 have a dash separator after DV. Francis Lapeyre
9/01/12
Ducks Unlimited
D
U
904 		Chuck Crisler
11/28/06
Educator
E
D
1050 		Plate is available only to teachers who received their degree from a Louisiana university. John Linahan
12/31/07
Ex-Prisoner of War
X
P
1034 		Features flag and "XPOW" on left Smail
1/12/08
Girl Scouts 30 "For Her Future" across bottom. Francis Lapeyre
12/18/09
In God We Trust
T
G
173 		Plate features the American flag above the Louisiana flag.
Seen on Plateshack Y2K 		Willie C. Brock, Jr.
1/17/10
Louisiana Agriculture
A
G
996 		Sun, Field, Tractor on left, "Agriculture... Growing our Future" across bottom Bradley Gallagher
1/02/09
LSU 30298 Yet another new base for LSU has emerged. The purple tiger stripes have been removed, and only the LSU logo is to the left (no tiger's head). Serial is still purple. There have been low numbers on this base (remake or reissue). This is somewhat of a first for LA, as they have in the past just reissued a new plate with a new serial (they have, in the past, remade personalized plates).
The last new LSU plate incorporatied light purple tiger stripes on white background. Low-numbered plates (in the 1000 range) were re-made on the new base. OMV may be replacing the older base on renewal (or upon request.)
The early tiger-striped LSU plates had light purple stripes; this later version has darker purple stripes which make the purple serial harder to see. OMV prefix on sticker is ULS (does not appear on the plate itself.) 		Francis Lapeyre
8/09/12
Pelican Environ.
E
E
12795 		Chuck Crisler
10/07/07
Professional Firefighter
P
F
8311 		Francis Lapeyre
5/16/12
Purple Heart
P
H
6990 		Francis Lapeyre
1/25/10
Quail Unlimited
B
U
323 		Tree on left, bobwhite on right, "Bring Back the Bobwhite" across bottom
Smail
12/06/07
Save America's Wetland
A
W
4 		Chuck Crisler
9/28/08
Tulane University 1204 John Linahan
12/24/07
UL Lafayette 3008 New design to accommodate new university name. New plate incorporates black into red and white fleur-de-lis design. John Linahan
9/01/07
Volunteer Firefighter
V
F
1606 		"Vol Fire Fighter" across bottom Smail
11/27/07
White Tail Deer
W
D
2697 		White Tail Deer over red colored Louisiana on left, "Preserve our Hunting Heritage" across the bottom Francis Lapeyre
3/01/12
Wild Turkey
W
T
412
11/27/06