Vehicle registration plates of South Carolina

Current South Carolina license plate

The U.S. state of South Carolina first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1917.

Passenger baseplates 1917 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed 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 South Carolina license plate that complied with these standards.

Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1917	Black on white	none	12345	unknown
1918	White on brown	none	12345	unknown
1919	Dark blue on brown	none	12-345	unknown
1930	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 1930" embossed in white block letters at bottom	"IODINE" embossed vertically in white serifed letters at far right	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
1932	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate with border line; "S.C." embossed in black block letters in top left corner; "32" embossed in top right corner	"THE IODINE STATE" embossed in black block letters centered at top	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
1938	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 38" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
1945	Embossed yellow numbers on green plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 45" embossed in yellow block letters at top	none	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
1946	Embossed silver numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 46" embossed in silver block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1947	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 47" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1948	Embossed yellow numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 48" embossed in yellow block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1949	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 49" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1950	Embossed black numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 50" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1951	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 51" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1952	Embossed yellow numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 52" embossed in yellow block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1953	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 53" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1954	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 54" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1955	Embossed black numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 55" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1956	Embossed black numbers on yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 56" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1957	Embossed white numbers on blue plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 57" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1958	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 58" embossed in blue block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1959	As 1957 base, but with "59" in place of "57"	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1960	As 1958 base, but with "60" in place of "58"	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1961	Embossed red numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 61" embossed in red block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1962	Embossed white numbers on red plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 62" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1963	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 63" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
1964	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 64" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123456 AA-1234	First letter corresponds to weight class	Double-letter serial format introduced for each weight class, though the single-letter format continued to be issued.
1965	Embossed black numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 65" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123456 AA-1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
1966	Embossed white numbers on blue plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 66" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
1967	Embossed dark blue numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1967" embossed in dark blue block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
1968	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "AUTO" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively; "19" embossed in bottom left corner and "68" in bottom right corner	none	A 123456	First letter corresponds to weight class
1969	Embossed white numbers on blue plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1969" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
1970	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed in white block letters centered at top	"300 YEARS" embossed in white block letters centered at bottom, with "1670" in bottom left corner and "1970" in bottom right corner	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class	Commemorated the 300th anniversary of the settlement of South Carolina.
1971	Embossed white numbers on dark red plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1971" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
1972	As 1968 base, but with "1972" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123		For each three-letter series, only the numbers 101 to 250 were issued. This practice continued until 1976.
1973	As 1969 base, but with "1973" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
1974	As 1970 base, but with "1974" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
1975	As 1971 base, but in a brighter shade of red and with "1975" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
1976–79	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; red Sabal palmetto and blue cannon screened in the center; "1775" and "1783" screened in blue on either side of cannon; red band screened at bottom containing "SOUTH CAROLINA" in white block letters in the center; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	"Bicentennial" screened in blue block letters centered at top, with "1776" to the left and "1976" to the right	ABC 123	AAA 101 to WZZ 400; AAA 401 to WZZ 500; UAA 101 to approximately UBS 400	Commemorated both the US Bicentennial and the Revolutionary War. Numbers 101 to 400 were issued for each three-letter series first, followed by numbers 401 to 500 from 1978; letters I, O, P, Q, U and Y were not used until late 1979, when U was briefly used as the first letter.^[1]
1980–84	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; white state seal on pale blue state shape screened in the center; "South Carolina" screened in blue block letters centered at bottom; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	none	ABC 123	AAA 101 to YZZ 500 (see right)	Numbers 101 to 500 issued for each three-letter series. Letters I, O, P, Q, U and Y were not used until 1983, when U, Y, P and O were used as the first letter (in that order) after WZZ 500 was issued.^[1]
1985–89	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; pale blue Sabal palmetto screened in the center; "SOUTH CAROLINA" screened in red serifed letters at top; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	none	ABC 123	AAA 501 to ZZZ 999 (see right)	Numbers 501 to 900 issued for most three-letter series; 901 to 999 added in 1988. Letters I and Q not used, and U used only as the first letter.^[1]
1990 - December 1997	Carolina wren (state bird). Dated "91" in right sticker box.	none	ABC 123	AAA 101 to ?	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1990 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first and, to date, only time South Carolina has been so honored.
January 1998 - spring 2008	Sabal palmetto (state tree). Dated "99" in right sticker box.	Smiling Faces. Beautiful Places.	123 ABC	101 AAA to present	Numbers 101 to 900 issued for each letter series. Serials were initially embossed but were surface-printed beginning at around the X series, and extended to number 999.
Summer 2008 - December 2015	Black flat numbers on multicolored sunset background with state flag motif at center.	TRAVEL2SC.COM	ABC 123	AAA 101 to approximately LZZ 999	Serials are surface-printed.
January 2016 - present	Black flat numbers on white and blue background with state flag motif at center.	While I Breathe, I Hope.	ABC 123	MAA 101 to present	Serials are surface-printed. Issuance of the new plates started in January 2016.^[2]

Optional types

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	February 2003 – October 2007	Embossed black numbers on light blue and white gradient plate; national and state flags on gold flagpole screened in the center; "South Carolina" screened in blue serifed letters centered at bottom	"IN GOD WE TRUST" screened in gold serifed letters centered at top, with gradient gold stripe below	123 4AB	100 1AA to approximately 400 0DT	No cost.
	October 2007 – present	As above, but with numbers screened rather than embossed		123 4AB	400 1DT to 999 9HN (as of November 22, 2015)	No cost.

Non-passenger plates

Type	Dates issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
Motorcycle	1995–2000	Embossed blue numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed at top	Z12345	Z10001 to Z99999	Serials ZA0001 through ZA9999 and Z/A10001 through Z/A99999 reserved for antique motorcycles.
	2000–07		ZA1234	ZB0001 to ZZ9999
	2007–08	As above, but with state name and letters in serial screened rather than embossed	Z/A12345	Z/B10001 to approximately Z/B40000
	2008–present	As above, but with all elements screened	Z/A12345	Z/B40001 to present
Truck	1996–2008	Embossed red numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed at top; "TRUCK" at bottom	P123456	P100001 to approximately P393500
	2008–15	As above, but with elements screened rather than embossed		P393501 to approximately P500000
	2015–present	Screened black numbers on white plate; "South Carolina" screened at bottom; "Property Carrying" screened at top with blue horizontal line above and red horizontal line below		P500001 to present

References

1 2 3 "South Carolina License Plates". licenseplates.tropikordia.com. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
↑ Shain, Andrew (December 15, 2015). "New SC license tags debut next year". The State. Retrieved December 21, 2015.

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	Indian tribes Designs and serial formats

By year	1900 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 South Carolina

Columbia (capital)

Regions	Atlantic Coastal Plain Blue Ridge Mountains Grand Strand High Hills of Santee Lake Murray Country Lowcountry Metrolina Midlands Ninety-Six District Olde English District Pee Dee Piedmont Sandhills Sea Islands Upstate

Larger cities	Charleston Columbia Greenville North Charleston Rock Hill Spartanburg

Smaller cities	Aiken Anderson Beaufort Bennettsville Camden Cayce Conway Easley Florence Forest Acres Gaffney Georgetown Greenwood Greer Goose Creek Hilton Head Island Isle of Palms Laurens Lexington Mauldin Myrtle Beach North Augusta North Myrtle Beach Orangeburg Simpsonville Summerville Sumter Union Walterboro West Columbia York

Towns	Abbeville Barnwell Batesburg-Leesville Bluffton Clemson Darlington Dillon Edgefield Fort Mill Fountain Inn Great Falls Hardeeville Irmo Jefferson Kingstree Liberty Marion McCormick Moncks Corner Mount Pleasant Newberry Pageland Pendleton Pickens Seneca Sullivan's Island Travelers Rest Walhalla Westminster Williamston

CDPs	Berea Carolina Forest Dentsville Gantt Garden City Ladson Parker Red Hill Saint Andrews Seven Oaks Socastee Taylors Wade Hampton

Counties	Abbeville Aiken Allendale Anderson Bamberg Barnwell Beaufort Berkeley Calhoun Charleston Cherokee Chester Chesterfield Clarendon Colleton Darlington Dillon Dorchester Edgefield Fairfield Florence Georgetown Greenville Greenwood Hampton Horry Jasper Kershaw Lancaster Laurens Lee Lexington Marion Marlboro McCormick Newberry Oconee Orangeburg Pickens Richland Saluda Spartanburg Sumter Union Williamsburg York

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