Utah License Plates

Utah license plates for automobiles and light trucks consist of a three number + three letter combination. Like most states, the letters serve as the "anchor," which means that the three numbers go all the way from 000 to 999 before the letters change. Thus, 999AAA preceded 000AAB by one. As of October 1997, the Tax Commission had gone far enough through the alphabet to be issuing plates with the letters KLX.

Prior to 1984, Utah license plates were black on white, and the configuration was three letters + three letters. In 1985, the now ubiquitous "SKI UTAH" plate was introduced, the letters and numbers were reversed, and the numbering started over again at 000AAA. Pick-up trucks were issued plates with four numbers and two letters, but in the early 90s, the state began issuing the same three + three scheme used for autos to pick-ups as well. Utah does not use the letters "I", "O" or "Q" in its regular configurations.

In 1994, the legislature authorized a commemorative plate design to celebrate Utah's Centennial. The design features Delicate Arch, a prominant geological feature in Arches National Park, which came to symbolize the Centennial celebration overall; in fact, the US Postal Service selected Delicate Arch for its Utah 1896-1996 stamp artwork. The Centennial plates were given 3+3 configurations which began with the letter Z (ie: 987ZET).

In the 1996 legislative session a bill was introduced that would have eliminated the SKI UTAH plate and made the Centennial design the standard. HB48 would have ended the issuance of SKI UTAH plates after December 31, 1996, and made the Delicate Arch design the regular plate. Wyoming and Idaho both did this after their centennials in 1990. Idaho abandoned its green on white Famous Potatoes plates, and kept its red, white, and blue centennial plate, adding a script "Scenic" in front of "Idaho" and replacing the "Centennial 1890-1990" tag at the bottom with (what else?) "Famous Potatoes." Wyoming dropped its brown on yellow design for the cooler blue shades design it introduced during its centennial -- they kept the famous bucking bronco on both designs. In the end, HB48 was amended, and Utah now allows vehicle owners to pick which design they prefer at no additional cost. In instituting the new choice, Utah maintained the separate numbering scheme for the Delicate Arch plates: As of early 1999, they have completely used all of the "Z" numbers, and moved backwards to "Y", as in 044YEE.

In March 1998, the state began issuing its new Olympic design plates. The plates (sample pictured above) feature the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Logo. The Utah State Tax Commission, maintains a very detailed website explaining the ins and outs of these plates. The plates will be available until June 2002. These plates feature a totally new configuration of three numbers + one letter + one additional number (like the sample shown at the top of this page). I lived in California during the 1984 Summer Olympics, but I was a starving student, unable to afford the commemorative plates offered then -- I won't miss out on them this time!

Stickers

Utah requires three stickers on the license plate.

On standard plates, the three should be placed side by side in the upper left-hand corner of the plate left to right, in the order listed above. In fact, new issue license plates have small CO, MO, and YR indications printed on them to help you figure out which sticker goes where...but there are still scads of people who put them all over the license plate. Maybe it's some kind of protest of which I am unaware. :)

Month Stickers

The month stickers are simple white stickers with a red number between 1 and 12 inclusive, indicating in which month the registration expires. Doing this allows the state to manufacture one series of expiration stickers each year instead of a different one each month (ie: just one 2001 sticker instead of 1-01, 2-01, 3-01, etc). The various states seem to be split on which method is better. California, Idaho, Oregon, and Arizona use separate month stickers, while Nevada and Wyoming use a combined sticker. Utah used a combined month and year sticker through 1991. The separate stickers began in 1992.

In Utah, registration always expires on the last day on the month. Some states, notably California, issue month stickers for expirations which occur at any time during the month. Meaning that a registration expires February 6, and the car gets a February sticker; on February 7, the registration is invalid, even though the stickers appear to be in line. In Utah, if a vehicle is registered on February 7, the registration will be valid until February 28 of the following year. (By the way, in Florida, the registrations expire in the month of the vehicle's owner's birthday. Happy birthday...from DMV!)

Year Stickers

In Utah, the year stickers change colors annually according to a four-year rotation cycle. 2000's decal is red. Here are the four colors and the next year they will be used. You can determine the color for any year by counting forward or backward from the base years given.

The state changed to the current color rotation in 1991. Prior to that, the order was RED, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE. In the change, 1990 was blue, and both 1989 (under the old rotation) and 1991 (under the new rotation) were green. I have seen an old 1980 sticker which was red.

Sticker Rotations

While I am generally not in favor of national standards for much of anything, I think it would be nice if all states used the same color rotation for their plate decal stickers. As it is now, I see lots of people with out of state license plates driving around town with expired tags. I see comparatively few people with expired Utah plates.
This is not because Utahns are somehow more angelic than those from other states; the explanation is simple: the cops know what color the stickers on the Utah plates are supposed to be, and if you don't have the right ones, they can see it very easily. For out of state plates, since the colors vary by each state, the cops have to get close enough to examine the sticker -- much more difficult. I am sure this is a problem in every state. If all states used the same rotation, more of those scofflaws could be nabbed, and the state could increase their revenues.

In the beginning of an experiment to see the rotations, I am compiling a list of each state's colors and rotational scheme. I began this effort on January 3, 1998, so the chart has a lot of gaps. If you could send me information about what color the current sticker in your state is, and any past years (if you can remember), I will add them to this chart. Your help is appreciated! Also, for 2000 stickers, let me know whether the state used "00" or "2000".

1. Arizona and Colorado issue different color stickers for counties which have required emissions testing. The top row for each state is the color used in non-emissions areas, and the bottom is the color in the emissions areas.

2. According to information provided by Rick Mattioni, Oklahoma uses a different color scheme for personalized plates. The sticker rotations shown on the top row are the colors for regular configurations and the bottom row for personalized plates.

3. According to information provided by Leo Auray, Connecticut began issuing two different colored stickers each year: one for the registrations which expire in the first six months of the year, and another for those with expiration in the second half of the year. Unfortunately, I was unaware of this when I collected data in prior years, so I don't know whether the stickers shown on this chart are for the first or second half of the year shown. :-( Let me know if you can help!

4. Georgia changed from pre-printed year stickers to stickers printed by computer at the time of vehicle registration in the middle of the 1999-2000 cycle. Thus, Year 2000 stickers issued before September 1999 were white text on green, and those issued later and printed by the computer were black text on green.

• J P Kirby for supplying me with information on NEW BRUNSWICK -- A license plate I never see tooling around in Utah! :)
• J Vincent (M Steffora), who provided me with all of the following:
  • PA 94, 95, and 96
  • IL: 96 and 99
  • MI: 97
  • DC: 97 and 98
  • WI: 98
  • OR: 00
  • NC: 89, 90, 91, 92, and 93. I don't have room on this chart for all of the years he supplied.
  He also maintains a growing North Carolina Roads site.
• Stephen W. Commiskey, who sent me the information for:
  • MS: 98 and 99
  • AL: 99
  • WI: 99
• Kyle Levenhagen, who diligently searches for various stickers and really helped to fill in this chart.
  • AL: 94, 95, and 96
  • AR: 93 and 95
  • AZ: 96
  • CO: 95 and 99
  • CT: 94, 95, and 96
  • DE: 93 and 96
  • FL: 95, 96, 97, 99, and 00
  • GA: 93, 95, and 00
  • IL: 96
  • IN: 93, 96, and 97
  • IA: 94, 95, 97, and 00
  • KS: 99
  • KY: 93, 94, 95, 98, and 99
  • LA: 95
  • ME: 93, 95, and 99
  • MA: 94, 99, and 00
  • MI: 93, 95, and 99
  • MO: 00
  • MS: 93, 94, 97, and 00
  • NE: 94 and 97
  • NH: 94
  • NC: 00
  • ND: 99
  • OH: 95, 96, 97, and 98
  • OK: 93 and 96
  • PA: 93
  • RI: 94, 97, and 98
  • SC: 94, 95, 96, and 98
  • SD: 96
  • TN: 99
  • VT: 93 and 98
  • VA: 93, 94, 95, and 97
  • WA: 94 and 96
  • WV: 94
  • WI: 93, 94, 95, 96, and 00
  • WY: 94
  •  
  • AB: 95 and 96
  • MB: 97
  • NB: 94
  • NS: 94
  • PE: 93
  • NW: 93
  • YU: 94
  Kyle also maintains a Wisconsin highways web page.
• Pat Fournier, informed me that Quebec hasn't issued decals since 1992, when the stickers were red.
• Rick Mattioni, who provided information about Oklahoma for 2000 and 2001, and informed me that the Sooner State uses different stickers for personalized plates.
• Steve Riner, who provided information about Minnesota for 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2002. Steve also maintains a Minnesota Highways website.
• Leo Auray, who provided information about Pennsylvania for 1999 and 2000, and informed me that Connecticut now uses two different stickers in each year: one for the first half of the year, and one for the latter half. Unfortunately, I was unaware of this when I collected data in prior years, so I don't know whether the stickers shown on this chart are for the first or second half of the year shown. :-(
• Duane Ungers, who provided information about Washington for 1993, 1995, and 2001.
• Stanley Cline, who provided information about Georgia for 1996, 1999, and 2001, and explained why Georgia has two different designs for 2000 (see note 4 above).

Conflicting information

In a few case, I have received conflicting information from my sources. I am certain that this is due to innocent mistakes, but, nevertheless, I do want to get it resolved. If you can help with any of these questions, please let me know. Thanks.

• Georgia 1999
  • Blue on white - or -
  • White on black
• Massachusetts 1997
  • Black on red - or -
  • White on green
• North Carolina 1994
  • White on orange - or -
  • White on red
• Ohio 1998
  • Blue on orange - or -
  • Black on red
• Ontario 1996
  • White on green - or -
  • Red on white

Utah Highways home page

This page created 11/15/97
Last updated by Daniel Stober