It may not seem like it, but license plates tell many different stories, and each state or even country has its own design that represents its place. California has changed the look and design of its license plate over 12 times since the first California license plate was created in 1914. However, they didn’t create the first system of 1-number, 3-letters, and 3-numbers until 1980.
Just recently this year they have announced that they must change the sequence of the license plate due to the fact that they have run out of all possible available combinations. They have had the same system for 46 years, and now they have to change it.
The California DMV has just changed the sequence of numbers and letters from 1-number, 3-letters, and 3-numbers to 3-numbers, 3-letters, and 1-number. The DMV made a rule that they cannot reuse a sequence, and they retire them instead because they want to get it mixed up with the database that holds all the history of tickets, tolls, or police records.
Furthermore, the history isn’t behind the lettering system as it is behind the design. The most famous designs that have been used are the black background with yellow lettering, and the WWII designs that used less metal to preserve metal for the war. Here is a brief history of them:
- (1914) First red background with white porcelain lettering.
- (1916-1919) Had a white background with blue lettering but had a different registration. Symbols for each year, like the California bear in 1916, the poppy in 1917, the mission bell in 1918, and a star in 1919.
- (1920-1941) They made a new color combination every year, switching among black, blue, red, orange, yellow, and white.
- (1942-1945) They used fewer metal materials to preserve metal for World War II.
- (1963) They introduced the famous and iconic black background with yellow lettering.
- (1969-1970’s) They switched to the blue background and yellow lettering, which was always a statement piece on an old classic car
- (1980’s-2026) Switched to the traditional white background with red and blue lettering, which is still used to this day.
The California DMV has also made specific license plates for specific communities like:
- The Yosemite license plate to support Yosemite National Park
- License plates for the residents of Lake Tahoe have a specific one that represents them.
- The community that owns lowriders got their own personalized themed license plate.
- Lastly, California made a license plate to honor the tragedy of 9/11
California history has been represented in our license plates, and you haven’t even realized it. Possibly many more designs are yet to come in the future, so I leave you with this: what does your license plate look like, and what’s its history?
