About the ‘state’ of America’s car plates

A car registration plate in America can tell you a lot about the person driving the vehicle. If you remember the movie Thelma and Louise, you might recall that the two ladies drove across the country in a 1966 Ford Thunderbird with an Arkansas license plate.

Every state in the US – as well as the provinces in Canada and Mexico – issue their own distinctive plates. They tend to reflect the culture and the history of the place. Wyoming has an image of a cowboy; Oklahoma, formerly known as Indian Territory, depicts an Apache warrior; and North Carolina has the words ‘First in Flight’ in recognition of the historic airplane flight by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.

There are also a curious variety of what they call vanity plates. I mean, who in his right mind would do something like this?

Ok moving swiftly on. I’ve always had a slight fascination with these plates, and I often wished there was something similar in the UK. Scotland could easily have its own distinctive plate but so could all the counties – Aberdeenshire, Argyll, Dumfriesshire, and the rest could easily come up with their own designs.

In England, there is plenty scope for places like Cornwall, Norfolk and Cumbria.

In Arizona, there are a few different plate designs but the one shown is by far the most common. It depicts a lot of blue sky, a large sun, a range of mountains called the Superstitions, and Saguaro cactus plants. In the bottom, right hand corner are the words Grand Canyon State.

That’s a fairly typical layout – the state name, the nickname or slogan, and some geographical or historical features. You can imagine Aberdeenshire with Balmoral or Fyvie Castle, Lanarkshire with Ravenscraig Steelworks, and Inverness-shire with the Caledonian Canal.

Throughout the year, we see plenty of the neighbouring state licenses, places like Utah, California, New Mexico and Nevada. But in the winter, the Arizona population increases thanks to an influx of ‘snowbirds’, people who escape the snow and ice of the far north for a second home in the sunny south-west.

That brings with it a rash of different plates from places such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and the Canadian provinces. So just for some light-hearted fun, here’s a look at some of the designs.

This Minnesota plate is partly obscured but it bears the slogan ‘10,000 Lakes’ and you can see what is supposed to be a blue lake in the centre. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Minnesota-registered vehicles in Arizona during the winter. So, I guess there must be some wealthy people up there.

Wisconsin is known as America’s Dairyland. Again, this plate is obscured by a dealership logo but at the top right hand side you can make out a farmland scene.

California, for all it is such an exciting and happening state, has one of the dullest plate designs. White background, blue lettering, and a red state name graphic. Patriotic perhaps…boring definitely.

Legendary North Dakota, as it is called, is known as the Peace Garden State, and the license plate shows the sun rising over the prairies, and a buffalo or bison in the bottom right. Plenty North Dakotans make their way down here during the winter too. It’s one of the more common plates here.

The Florida plate is the most distinctive in the country. The Sunshine State license plate is a riot of colour compared with most of the others. Green and white, with a state map, and a citrus orange plant in the centre.

Washington, the Evergreen State, has a graphic of Mount Rainier, which overlooks the city of Seattle, on the plate. And Illinois is referred to as Land of Lincoln, and bears an image of Abraham Lincoln in the centre. The ex-President practiced law there for many years before he was a politician.

Saskatchewan is one of the Canadian provinces that show up here. It’s largely a farming area so the wheat graphic speaks for itself.

There are a ton of license plate variations over here – some for war veterans for example – and I’m a big fan of the whole idea. Back in the UK someone should suggest it to the DVLA.