Kentucky License Plates

Flat.

"Team Kentucky"

Unbridled Spirit issue

A/E, A/F, B/R, B/T, C/V, C/W, C/X, C/Z series used before D/D

No county coding or county stickers on this type. The word "PARKING" appears where a county sticker would be.

Back to all new dies, same spacing as early double-letter ones (A/F through B/R used some old dies, wide spacing.)

At least as of the D/H series they are back to the "wide" spacing again ... wheelchair far left, serial spaced to the far right.

Completely redesigned; "KENTUCKY" and "FARM" are yellow outlined in blue, w/ Kentucky Proud, FFA & 4-H logos at left. C/B, C/H, and C/R series used, now C/S.

Numbering format moved from 1234A to AB123 in 2009, then to current style in 2020.

Red letter with mini wheelchair

There have been some big jumps in Official plates, leading us to believe that they may be coded for use by different state agencies. So far, official sources will not comment. Does anyone know? Jacob Newkirk reports that some agencies are putting different decals over the state seal.

Jacob reports N 6072, which is not a high, yet it has the new dies. The current high has the old dies.

The former 6000-pound truck plate is no longer issued. Affected vehicles now receive passenger plates unless the owner chooses to move up to this 10000-pound version. Plates changed from 1AB-234 format annual dated issue to a stickered base in six-digit all-numeric format. Caption "10000" still embossed along bottom and number dies match those found on "Unbridled Spirit" passenger plates. Some random exceptions with the old dies sometimes appear.

Old dies high (10000) - 382025

New dies low (10000) - 402740  through at least 439271, then 446240 back to original dies followed by 474685 on new dies once again.

Dan Mergard advised that the plate numbers increase with weight class, so tracking a single high for trucks will probably be impossible now.

The former purple on white series ended at 5000-JM.

New edition with Unbridled Spirit logo at top.

Newer issues have the state name in solid black. Earlier issues had the state name in black outlined white lettering.

It appears that the new butterfly plate has replaced the Warbler plate as the "Nature's Finest" issue. The Warbler plate is no longer shown on the state web site. Series began at 00 001 and ran through 09 999, then 90 001 through 99 999, now 40 000 and up. The latest series to show up is the current C0 000 series and then F0 000.. Charles Humphrey reports that the butterfly numbers appear to be duplicating the 2003 issue of horse plates, except for the space between the numbers. He has a horse plate with C1407 on it in use on his car.

New style. White background fades to light blue right.

B/D and B/F series also used, now B/W.

From Jacob Newkirk: Sometime in the C-series, the background was changed (presumably because except up close, the plates were virtually illegible). Now there is a light gray box behind the serial, which works much better, although the falls are less visible.

Redesigned for 2008

Charles Humphrey reports seeing Hummingbird plates with a mixture of old and new number dies on the same plate.

Also used the B/G series.

Jacob Newkirk reports that this plate has dies unlike any other KY plates he has seen.

Charles Humphrey reports the A/A suffix on Share the Road plates as well.

Colonels advanced from the A/A suffix to A/B. Now in B/S.

Redesigned with pale blue sky and clouds; horse lying in grass as before.

Now using the new numbering format.

Previous format was A1234. It appears that the series progressed from C to E since no D plates have been reported, then F and G, H, and K. It appears that J was skipped, at least on this type.

New design with dark blue background (night sky) and the same view of the President's Hall tower as before. Serial is now white.

Slight modification: Numbers now centered, with a definite space between them and the letters.

A/Z, B/R, B/S used previously

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Plate commemorates Kentucky's 2008 hosting of the Ryder Cup. B/R and B/S were also used.

New dies

Gary Whitt reports 33306 with old dies, so there is still some switching back and forth between new and old dies.

KYA123 format, then AB12 (with CB76 reported as a high), now generic format used by several types.

Completely new style, with "Go Big Blue!" legend at bottom and UK logo at left. A/S, A/T, A/V, A/W, B/P, D/G used, now D/N.

The new-style "Go Big Blue!" plate has already been slightly redesigned and is brighter; whereas the original new plate was more silver, this one is white in the middle and fades into silver toward the edges.

Formerly Dx12 format (with DY47 reported as a high), now generic format used by several types. A/R suffix was used, now A/S.

All military plates use same base but different decals for branch of service or a particular war, currently serving or retired, etc. Lots of types, but numbers not broken out by type.

Jefferson Co.

The high in the A series before advancing in a jump to the B series was ATE 880.

The current base began issue in 2005, and replaced the previous base by the end of 2006.

003 AAA is the current low, reported by Mark O'Neil.

The current high has the newer dies that have been appearing on Specials. This appears to be a permanent change.

Original dies high: 838 JCB Marion Co.

New dies low: 981 JCB Marion Co.

Jacob Newkirk reports on 2008-03-28 that it appears the design on passenger plates has been changed slightly, as the blue along the bottom of each plate is now brighter than that on older plates. County decals have also been changed, with a new font and brighter blue color.

New, lighter blue county decals began around the PZx series.

In God We Trust plates, at least in Daviess and Ohio counties, still use older, darker blue county decals.

The S series was skipped. Plates advanced from RZZ to TAA.

The U series was skipped. Plates advanced from TZZ to VAA.

Superseded by Butterfly plate