Vehicle registration plates of Colorado

Current Colorado license plate

The U.S. state of Colorado first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1913.

Passenger plates 1913 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Colorado license plate that complied with these standards. However, the 1954 (dated 1955) issue was six inches in height by twelve inches in width, although the mounting holes were not in these standardized positions.

The basic design of Colorado's license plate (a row of mountains against an all-white or all-green background) has been in use since 1960, though not continually until 1978.^[1] This makes it the second-oldest American plate design still in circulation, after that of Delaware. In 2000, a more detailed version of the mountain face replaced the previous monochrome one.

Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1913	Black on white	none	12345	unknown
1914	White on blue	none	12345	unknown
1915	Black on yellow	none	12345	unknown
1916	White on brown	none	12345	unknown	First embossed Colorado plate
1917	Black on pink	none	12345	unknown
1918	White on black	none	123-456	unknown
1919-20	Silver on dark brown	none	123-456	unknown	Revalidated for 1920 with tabs on left of plate.
1920	Silver on brown	none	123-456	unknown	For dated plates only.
1921	Silver on dark blue	none	123-456	unknown
1922	black on white	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1923	white on black	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1924	Black embossed lettering and rims on gray painted base	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1925	White embossed lettering and rims on maroon base	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1926	White embossed lettering and rims on green base	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1927	White on black	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1928	Maroon on beige	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1929	White on maroon	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1930	Orange on black	none	12-34-56	Issued in blocks by county
1931	Black on orange	none	123-456	Issued in blocks by county
1932	Orange on black	none	1-12-345 10-1-234	County-coded
1933	Black on orange	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1934	Yellow on black	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1935	Black on yellow	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1936	White on blue	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1937	Black on silver	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1938	White on teal	none	1-12345 10-1234	County-coded
1939	Yellow on black	none	1-12345 10-12345	County-coded
1940	Black on yellow	none	1-12345 10-12345	County-coded
1941	Yellow on black	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1942	White embossed lettering and rims on maroon base.	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1943–44	Yellow on black	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded	Revalidated for 1944 with yellow tabs, due to metal conservation for World War II.
1945	White on black	none	1-12345 10-12345	County-coded
1946	Yellow on black	none	1-12345 10-12345	County-coded
1947	Black on yellow	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1948	Black on unpainted aluminum	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1949	Yellow on black	none	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1950	Green on white	Colorful	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1951–52	White on green	Colorful	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded	Revalidated for 1952 with yellow tabs, due to metal conservation for the Korean War.
1953	Green on yellow	Colorful	1-123456 10-12345	County-coded
1954	White on black	Colorful	1-1234 A1-1234 1A-1234 10-1234 A10-123 10A-123	County-coded
1955	Black on white	Colorful	A/1 1234 A/10 1234	County-coded
1956	White on black	none	A:1234	A:1 to Z:9999	Issued in Denver County.
			A/10 1234	County-coded	Issued in Arapahoe, Jefferson and Adams Counties.
			2:12345 13:1234	County-coded	Issued in all other counties.
1957	Black on orange	none	123-456	1001 to approximately 203-000	Issued in Denver County.
			A/10 1234	County-coded	Issued in Arapahoe, Jefferson, Adams, Logan and Morgan Counties.
			2-12345 14-1234	County-coded	Issued in all other counties.
1958	Green on white with skier at right	Colorful	A/B 123	A/A 1 to approximately N/R 999	Issued in Denver County.
1958	Green on white with skier at right	Colorful	2 123 2/A 123 A/2 123 1/0 123 10/A 123 A/10 123	County-coded	Issued in all other counties.
1959	Embossed white on green	Colorful	AB-1234	County-coded
1960–61	Embossed green on white; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded	Revalidated for 1961 with stickers.
1962	Embossed white on green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1963	Embossed green on white; mountains at bottom	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1964	Embossed white on green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1965	Embossed green on white; mountains at bottom	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1966	Embossed white on green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1967	Embossed green on white; mountains at bottom	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1968	Embossed white on green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1969	Embossed green on white; mountains at bottom	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1970	Embossed white on green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1971	Embossed green on reflective white; mountains at bottom	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1972	Debossed white on reflective green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1973	Embossed green on reflective white	Colorful	AB-1234	County-coded
1974	Debossed white on reflective green; mountains at top	Colorful	AB-1234	County-coded
1975–76	Embossed red on reflective white and blue graphic	Centennial	AB-1234	County-coded	Commemorated Colorado's 100 years of statehood. Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1975 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first and, to date, only time Colorado has been so honored.
1976	Embossed red on reflective white	Centennial	AB-1234	County-coded	Issued at end of Centennial graphic supply.
1976–81	Embossed white on reflective green; mountains at top	none	AB-1234	County-coded
1982–92			ABC-123	County-coded
1993– December 1999			ABC1234	County-coded
January 2000 – mid 2015	embossed dark green on reflective graphic plate with white and grey mountains against dark green background	none	123-ABC	001-AAA to 999-ZZZ (see right)	Letter Q not used in serials until early 2013, when all such serials (001-AAQ through 999-ZZQ) started to be issued after 999-ZZZ was reached.
mid 2015 – present		none	ABC-123	Unissued 1982–93 serials

Non-passenger and optional types, 2000 to present

When the current passenger baseplate was introduced in 2000, the state simplified its non-passenger and specialty plates as well, issuing them in the same serial format—123-ABC—and with similar graphic elements.

Non-passenger types

2000 to present

The serials on non-passenger types are embossed unless noted.

Image	Type	Notes
	Apportioned Permanent Trailer	Red background; stacked "PRM" prefix.
	Apportioned Tractor	Red background; stacked "ATR" prefix.
	Apportioned Trailer	Red background; stacked "ATL" prefix.
	Apportioned Truck	Red background; stacked "ATK" prefix.
	Colorado State Patrol	Black background; surface-printed serials in a format of CSP 123.
	Commercial Fleet	Red background; stacked "FLT" prefix.
	Dealer	Blue background; stacked "DLR" prefix.
	Dealer—Demo	Blue background; stacked "DMO" prefix.
	Dealer—In Transit	Blue background; stacked "INT" prefix.
	Depot	Blue background; stacked "DPT" prefix.
	Disabled Person	Green background; wheelchair in center; surface-printed serials.
	Farm Tractor	Green background; stacked "FTR" prefix.
	Farm Tractor—Personalized	Green background; stacked "FTR" prefix; surface-printed serials.
	Farm Truck	Green background; stacked "FTK" prefix.
	Farm Truck—Personalized	Green background; stacked "FTK" prefix; surface-printed serials.
	Government	Green background; stacked "GVT" prefix.
	Gross Vehicle Weight Tractor	Red background; stacked "TVW" prefix.
	Gross Vehicle Weight Truck	Red background; stacked "GVW" prefix.
	Gross Vehicle Weight Truck—Personalized	Red background; stacked "GVW" prefix; surface-printed serials.
	Manufacturer	Blue background; stacked "MFG" prefix.
	Recreational Truck	Green background; stacked "RTK" prefix.
	Special Mobile Machine	Green background; stacked "SMM" prefix.
	Special Mobile Machine—Exempt	Green background; stacked "SMX" prefix; motorcycle-sized plate.
	Trailer	Green background; stacked "TRL" prefix.
	Transporter	Blue background; stacked "TPR" prefix.
	Truck	Green background; stacked "TRK" prefix.

Prior to 2000

Image	Type	Design	Serial format	Notes
	Disabled Person	Reflective white on green.	12345
	Fleet	Reflective gold on blue.	1234IA5

Optional types

2000 to present

Specialty types have surface-printed serials. Some types are available in personalized format, in which case the type logo, which normally appears at the center of the plate between the numbers and the letters of the serial, is absent.

Image	Type	Notes
	10th Mountain Division
	"Adopt a Greyhound"
	"Advancing Clean Energy"—Motorcycle
	"Advancing Clean Energy"—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Advancing Clean Energy"—Passenger
	"Advancing Clean Energy"—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Air Force Cross—Motorcycle
	Air Force Cross—Passenger
	Amateur Radio—Commercial	Stacked "CCL" prefix. Serial is callsign.
	Amateur Radio—Passenger	Stacked "SCL" prefix. Serial is callsign.
	American Indian Scholars—Motorcycle
	American Indian Scholars—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	American Indian Scholars—Passenger
	American Indian Scholars—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Broncos Country"—Motorcycle
	"Broncos Country"—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Broncos Country"—Passenger
	"Broncos Country"—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Bronze Star—Motorcycle
	Bronze Star—Passenger
	Bronze Star of Valor—Motorcycle
	Bronze Star of Valor—Passenger
	Collector Truck/Tractor
	Collector Truck/Tractor—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Collector Vehicle
	Collector Vehicle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Colorado College
	Colorado College—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Colorado School of Mines
	Colorado School of Mines—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Colorado State University
	Colorado State University—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Committed to a Cure"—Motorcycle
	"Committed to a Cure"—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Committed to a Cure"—Passenger
	"Committed to a Cure"—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Denver Firefighter
	Designer—Passenger	Serial is embossed.
	Designer—Passenger—Personalized
	Designer—Truck	Stacked "TRK" prefix; serial is embossed.
	Disabled Veteran—Motorcycle
	Disabled Veteran—Passenger
	Disabled Veteran Handicapped—Motorcycle
	Disabled Veteran Handicapped—Passenger
	Distinguished Service Cross—Motorcycle
	Distinguished Service Cross—Passenger
	"Elks Care, Elks Share"
	Fallen Airman
	Fallen Guardsman
	Fallen Marine
	Fallen Sailor
	Fallen Soldier
	Fire Fighter
	"Growing Your Future"
	"Growing Your Future"—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Honorably Discharged Veteran	Plate is screen printed.
	Honorary Consul
	Horseless Carriage
	Italian American—Motorcycle
	Italian American—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Italian American—Passenger
	Italian American—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Kids1st—Motorcycle
	Kids1st—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Kids1st—Passenger
	Kids1st—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Korean War Veteran
	Medal of Honor
	Member U.S. Congress
	Member U.S. Senate
	Mesa State College
	Mesa State College—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Metro State College
	Metro State College—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Motorcycle Collector—Motorcycle
	Motorcycle Collector—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	National Guard
	Navy Cross
	NORAD	Issued July 1, 2008 through January 1, 2010.^[2]
	Pearl Harbor Survivor
	Pioneer
	Prisoner of War
	Purple Heart
	Regis University
	Regis University—Personalized	No logo at center.
	"Respect Life"
	Respects Wildlife
	Passenger—Personalized
	Share the Road—Motorcycle
	Share the Road—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Share the Road—Passenger
	Share the Road—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Silver Star
	State Representative	R-000 serial format.
	State Senator	S-00 serial format.
	Street Rod
	Street Rod—Personalized
	Support Education—Motorcycle
	Support Education—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Support Education—Passenger
	Support Education—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Support the Troops—Motorcycle
	Support the Troops—Motorcycle—Personalized	No logo at center.
	Support the Troops—Passenger
	Support the Troops—Passenger—Personalized	No logo at center.
	University of Colorado
	University of Colorado—Personalized	No logo at center.
	University of Denver
	University of Denver—Personalized	No logo at center.
	University of Northern Colorado
	University of Northern Colorado—Personalized	No logo at center.
	U.S. Air Force	Available only to veterans.
	U.S. Air Force 50th Anniversary	Available to general public.
	U.S. Air Force Academy
	U.S. Air Force Academy—Personalized	No logo at center.
	U.S. Army
	U.S. Army Special Forces
	U.S. Coast Guard
	U.S. Marine Corps
	U.S. Navy
	Vietnam Veteran
	Western State College
	Western State College—Personalized	No logo at center.

Prior to 2000

Type	Serial format	Notes
10th Mountain Division	12345E
Collector Truck/Tractor	12Z34
Collector Vehicle	12N34 12R34
Denim	Coded by county of issuance: A1B1234	Successor to Designer base; issued from July 1992 to December 1999. Still currently revalidated.
Designer	Coded by county of issuance: A1B-123	Issued from January 1989 to June 1992. Still currently revalidated.
Firefighter	12345F
Honorably Discharged Veteran	12345B
Pioneers	12345D
Purple Heart	012345
United States Air Force	12345C

References

External links

Vehicle registration plates of the United States

States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Federal district	Washington, D.C.

Insular areas	American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands

Other registration plates	Native American tribes Designs and serial formats

By year	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Vehicle registration plates of North America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

State of Colorado

Denver (capital)

Topics	Index Coloradans Elections Federal lands Geography Government Highways History Timeline Images Law Military Mountains Museums Public Defender Paleontology Rivers Symbols Transportation Visitor attractions

Society	Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports

Regions	Central Colorado Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Eastern Plains Front Range Grand Valley High Plains High Rockies Mineral Belt Northern Colorado Northwestern Colorado Piedmont Plateau Roan Plateau Roaring Fork Valley San Luis Valley Sangre de Cristo Mountains South-Central Colorado Southwest Colorado Uinta Mountains Uintah Basin Western Slope

Municipalities	Akron Alamosa Arvada Aspen Aurora Boulder Breckenridge Brighton Broomfield Cañon City Castle Rock Centennial Colorado Springs Commerce City Cortez Craig Delta Denver Durango Englewood Erie Evans Fairplay Federal Heights Fort Collins Fort Morgan Fountain Golden Glenwood Springs Grand Junction Greeley Greenwood Village Gunnison La Junta Lafayette Lakewood Lamar Leadville Littleton Longmont Louisville Loveland Montrose Northglenn Parker Platteville Pueblo Salida Steamboat Springs Sterling Superior Thornton Trinidad Vail Westminster Wheat Ridge Windsor

Counties	Adams Alamosa Arapahoe Archuleta Baca Bent Boulder Broomfield Chaffee Cheyenne Clear Creek Conejos Costilla Crowley Custer Delta Denver Dolores Douglas Eagle El Paso Elbert Fremont Garfield Gilpin Grand Gunnison Hinsdale Huerfano Jackson Jefferson Kiowa Kit Carson La Plata Lake Larimer Las Animas Lincoln Logan Mesa Mineral Moffat Montezuma Montrose Morgan Otero Ouray Park Phillips Pitkin Prowers Pueblo Rio Blanco Rio Grande Routt Saguache San Juan San Miguel Sedgwick Summit Teller Washington Weld Yuma

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.