Florida License Plates

It appears the Fxx series was skipped. Plates advanced from EZZ to GAA.

This is the new series in the "Sunshine State" design. Sunshine State plates were introduced in 1994 in response to a series of tourist killings, as tourists could be identified by special "LEASE" plates on rental cars. It was earlier reported that Sunshine State plates are now issued to all rental cars, but rental cars have been sighted with county name plates as well. Each of the other counties is also issued some Sunshine State plates to mix in with their standard county name plates. This is done to make it more difficult to identify rental cars; however, rental cars have a slightly different sticker, more or less defeating the purpose of this security measure. These plates are also issued as the only passenger series in Miami-Dade County (the largest in Florida), which is the only county that doesn't issue county name plates. This series started at P00 0AA (Phil reports P17 2AA). The Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, and Y series followed.

Wider dies on this base began after W50 3CM. After the Y series, a new format began since the Z series was not used.

The high for the X series is X26 8ZZ. Phil reports X40 3BC with narrow dies, which is odd because wider dies started in the W series, as noted above.

The series range in the new format for Sunshine State bases is 000 HAA - 999 LZZ, then 000 VAA to 999 ZZZ, then 000 TAA to 999 TZZ. T series followed X and Y series. No Z series plates ever appeared.

The new series mentioned above follows 999 TZZ.

Note: JDX reports that regular Sunshine State plates in the YGF series are being used on unmarked police cars.

Sunshine State series changed from brown stem to green stem somewhere between 488 WYM and 145 XBR.

New format low - AAB Z23

Per Lucas Kannou, Sunshine State first letters: H, I, J, K, L, V, W, X, Y, then finally T.

.

66 of the 67 Florida counties (Miami-Dade County as the exception) issue plates with the county name embossed at the bottom. Each letter series in both the Sunshine State and county issued starts at 000. This series started at A00 0AA and continued through the N00 0AA series. County series changed from brown stem to green stem somewhere between N13 1GR and N80 5LZ.

A new format was then issued with county names in the 000 MAA - 999 RZZ series. After reaching 999 RZZ, the series changed to Y12 ABC.

High for previous type: N28 9ZX

In an odd move, Florida is issuing two types of "In God We Trust" optional plates. This type appears on the standard orange blossom base, but has "IN GOD WE TRUST" embossed at the bottom where the county name would usually appear. There may not be any additional charge for this plate.

A second style of "In God We Trust" plate that does require an extra fee is a full graphic with a 5 character registration to the right of "In God We Trust" in black bordered gold lettering. A stylized American flag appears at the bottom of the plate. The state name appears in red block letters at the top center. See separate listing below.

JM reports that a strange 0 (zero) is appearing on these and other plates now, skinny with rounded corners and similar to Georgia's zero.

Jason Taylor reports 000 3GA as a possible low.

Series jumped from 000 0JV to 000 0BA because the K series was used for Motorcycle.

As of Nov. 2013, the series had reached BY, but no BZ plates have been reported. However, the newest issues have advanced to the PA and PB series.

Blue antique tag with current font, although change in sequence.

May be issued to any 25 year or older car or truck less than 26,000 GVW. May be used for daily transportation without restriction. May be issued 100 point show car or even rust bucket/junker. Two year registration.

Florida Apportioned license plates debuted in 1987 and have since undergone several revisions. All plates are embossed with year top left, large month sticker in center (1997+) and currently in a three-colour rotation. Plates replaced annually and available in several vehicle types denoted by these prefixes until 2018:

A Semi Tractor (Jx 2020-present)

B Truck (two plates, marked FR and BK, GA prefix 2019, Mx 2020-present)

F Truck/Tractor For Hire

R Rental Truck

S Bus (DA prefix 2019, Lx 2020-present)

T Trailer (latest known is 2002)

Y, Z Truck/Tractor Not for Hire (Xx 2020-present)

Thanks to Jim Moini for providing all data. For more information, see the Florida Apportioned page on Moini.net.

Black on yellow, wide dies, narrow rounder zeros. Previous series was five or six digit numeric.

New series of County plates, still black on reflective yellow with wide dies. Previous series was six-digit numeric.

New dies

DEALER designation is embossed where county name would be.

FL tradition has ALWAYS been "M" was reserved exclusively for dealer plates. In 2000, NAA 00A was started and immediately reverted back to Mxx nnx series. In 2006, NA0 00A was started and almost immediately skipped to PA0 00A.

Six digit plates followed five digit, but a new format is now in use. "myflorida" base started in 90000 range. Wheelchair symbol embossed to right of serial, which overruns the graphic, making it very hard to read. Sunshine State slogan.

After Z9ZZZ, serial range is YA01A to ZZ99Z.

New myFlorida.com double orange graphic with wheelchair symbol to the right of the serial.

6618 is the high on the previous citrus base.

Fleet plates are all-embossed dark green on light green. Most of them use the old wide dies, but for an unknown reason a few scattered plates use the current narrow dies. This series started at GAA 000 and is issued to utility trucks. A new format plate GA1 143 was reported earlier, but it was suspected that the letter I was in the third position. Now GA1 150 has been reported with narrow dies, so this appears to be a new or alternate format. GA4 182 was reported by Mike Hart on 2006-01-31 and the plate showed almost no wear, so this appears to be the new format. GA0 146 has also been seen by Mike Hart, and as Florida does not use the letter "O" in any position, that has to be a zero in the third position.

Fleet plates are being used on Trucks and Trailers.

Same use as Dealer and Transporter plates, but for use by manufacturer representatives who call upon franchise car dealers and attend factory sales at the auctions. Also in use by franchise dealers' captive finance company employees with company cars.

Miniature myflorida.com and double-orange graphic now adorn Florida's motorcycle plates too. Florida motorcycle plates use the regular yellow stickers, and the serial is embossed underneath the state map, instead of over it, as on passenger plates. Changeover to myflorida.com was reported to be between 20000H and 30000H, depending on the county of issue, but Matt Embro saw 40813H on the single orange base.

Series appears to have gone from nnnnnR to nnnnEA, but not all of the E series was used before changing to the K series. The K series has the rounder "0" die, similar to full size plates.

Tiger Joe reports it appears the M series was skipped, going from LZ to NA.

David Wilson reports 93BKK with "UNDER 21" in red on white on 2015-11-28.

He also reports Y35368 as a Motorcycle specialty plate that was black on red, white, and blue.

Florida Permanent Trailer license plate type originally created in the late-1990s. Plates are dark blue on reflectorized white featuring embossed state name, serial, and "Permanent Trl" in both upper and lower case. Original numbering format C12 34A was exhausted by 2006 and followed by the series shown in our History tab.

Palm Beach County Sheriff vehicle

Black on bright yellow, with an embossed star on the left with "SHERIFF" embossed inside the star in tiny upper case letters. Previous series was 5-digit numeric. New issue has the new, wider dies and appears to have started at ZAA00.

Electronic temporary tag program. Dealers have the cardboard templates with control numbers. Upon issuing tag, the next available number is generated by the state system; therefore, a dealer in a different city could be issuing the next available number. Paper tags are black on white.

This plate is issued ONLY to trucks OVER 26,000 GVW, usually to sanitation, gravel, & cement mixers. Issued in pairs on myFlorida.com base with county name on the bottom. Plate type has been in continuous existence since 1977 and never discontinued in 1992.

Phil reports N31 04E as the high on the citrus map base, and N69 55E as the low on the myflorida.com base.

This is the 38th most popular license plate with nearly 17,000 issued. It supports Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, in addition to the Protect Wild Dolphin and Save Our Seas plates.

This is the 12th most popular specialty plate in Florida with over 34,000 registrations. Revenues are distributed to the Astronaut Memorial Foundation and Technological Research and Development Authority.

After CZ99Z, series shifted to CA0AA.

This is the 25th most popular specialty plate with nearly 21,000 active registrations. It supports Florida A&M University for Academic Enhancement.

This is the 5th most popular specialty plate in Florida with over 75,000 active registrations. It is a/k/a the "NOLES" plate and generated $1.8 million last year for Florida State University for academic enhancement.

This is the second style of "In God We Trust" plate that does require an extra fee is a full graphic with a 5 character registration to the right of "In God We Trust" in black bordered gold lettering. A stylized American flag appears at the bottom of the plate. The state name appears in red block letters at the top center.

New design for Manatee plates.

Phil reports IBK 364 as the first Manatee plate with wide dies he has seen, but a later plate in the series had the old dies.

The bottom of plate reads "Save the Manatee." This is the 6th most popular specialty plate with over 57,000 active registrations. It has been generating revenue for the Manatee Trust Fund since 1990.

This is the third most popular specialty plate with over 80,000 active registrations. It supports Florida Panther Research and Management Trust Fund and Florida Communities Trust Fund.

This is the 7th most popular specialty plate in FL with nearly 44,000 registrations. It supports the Mote Marine Laboratory.

This is the 13th most popular specialty plate with over 32,300 plates issued. Supports Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc.

"Helping Sea Turtles Survive"

Ranks 4th with over 79,000 issued. Supports Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to conduct sea turtle protection, research and recovery programs.

With 21,947 registrations as of March 2024, this specialty plate is the 29th most popular in the state. Fees for this plate go towards local art programs in the county the plate is registered in

Started in the mid-W range, and then upon reaching the end of the W series, started over at WAA 000, but no numbers have been recycled. The earlier W series now being used has never been used before.

This is the 33rd most popular specialty plate with over 18,500 active registrations. It supports Florida Wildflower Program and is one of the least expensive specialty plates at an additional $15 per year.

The state has officially renamed this plate the State Wildflower.

Revenue goes to Support Our Troops, Inc.

This is the number one selling specialty plate in Florida, AKA "Gator Plate," out of 113 choices. There are over 120,000 active registrations (up more than 7000 from 2008) and it supports University of Florida for Academic Enhancement.

New dies with rounder zero

The AAA0 format followed 99999. Still on the red, white, and blue base with an embossed wheelchair to left and "DISABLED VETERAN" screened in blue at bottom. The older version had "DMV" screened at the bottom.This is the Handicap version of the DV plate. The numeric type Disabled Veteran plate does not allow Handicap parking privileges.

Jason Taylor reports BEQ7 (with embossed wheelchair to the left) on 2013-01-03. We don't know where this fits into the sequence.

DV39304B is the high on the other type. White base. Vertical blue stripe w/ white stars to left & red & white vertical stripe to the right of dies. DMV on bottom of plate. Renewable annually & optional 2 yr renewal. Single plate for the rear & generic "DV" plate without serial for the front.

Requires proof from the U.S. Government that the service member was killed while serving and proof of relationship to the service member to acquire this plate.

Wide dies

"National Guard" is embossed on the left side of the plate; serial to the right; wide dies.

The Purple Heart plate is only issued to bonafide Purple Heart recipiants. The former sequence was six digit, all numerals. The base has not changed.

New dies

Old dies

This series started at A00 AAA, and was issued concurrently with two other formats (AB1 23C and A12 34B) until both others were discontinued in the middle of their runs. The A and B series in this format, as well as all of the other two formats, were issued as both county name and Sunshine State plates, until the state decided to split up production of the two types. The separate T series started when the original issue was in the B series. The C (which might have been ended in the middle of its run), D, E, F, G, H, I, and J series were issued entirely as county name plates, until the issue presumably ended in the early K series. This format was discontinued in both the county name and Sunshine State series because of a computer error. The myflorida.com county plates started around the late I/ early J break, depending on the county of issue (I21 ZAM was on the myflorida base from Polk County, while J04 AXN was on the old base from Martin County). The current high was from Marion County.

Low: A70 9AA (Polk Co.) 2014-01-05 Jason Taylor

This Sunshine State series started at T00 AAA, and ran through the T, U, V, W, and X series, before ending (presumably) at X99 ZZZ. The myflorida.com base started in the mid-X series, around XH-XI, depending on the county of issue. A small number of plates in the XZ series were accidentally produced out of sequence on the original base before the myflorida base was introduced.