Vehicle registration plates of Washington (state)

The U.S. state of Washington first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1916.

Passenger baseplates 1916 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 first Washington license plate that complied with these standards was a modification of the 1954 plate, introduced in January 1956.

Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
1916	Embossed white numbers and border on navy base; "WN" embossed at left and "1916" embossed at right	none	123456
1917	Embossed white lettering and border on lavender base; "WN" embossed at left and "X17" embossed at right	none	123456
1920	Black lettering with yellow base painted on porcelain-coated steel; "WN" above "X20" painted in black letters on white field	none	123456
1927	Embossed green numbers on white base; "X27" embossed at left and state name embossed at bottom	none	123-456
1928	Embossed black lettering and border on orange base; "X" and "-28" embossed at left and right of state name at bottom	none	123-456
1935	Embossed white numbers on dark blue plate with border line; "WASHINGTON" embossed in white block letters centered at bottom; "X" embossed in bottom left corner and "35" in bottom right corner	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1936	Embossed dark blue numbers on white plate with border line; "WASHINGTON" embossed in dark blue block letters centered at bottom; "19" embossed in bottom left corner and "36" in bottom right corner	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1937	Embossed white numbers on dark blue plate with border line; "WASHINGTON 1937" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1938	Embossed green numbers on white plate with border line; "1938 WASHINGTON" embossed in green block letters at top	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1939	Embossed golden yellow numbers on green plate with border line; "STATE OF WASHINGTON" embossed in golden yellow block letters at bottom	"GOLDEN JUBILEE" embossed in golden yellow block letters centered at top, with "1889" to the left and "1939" to the right	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Commemorated Washington's 50 years of statehood.
1940	Embossed green numbers on white plate with border line; "WASHINGTON 1940" embossed in green block letters at bottom	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1941	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "WASHINGTON 1941" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1942–44	Embossed green numbers on white plate; "WASHINGTON 1942" embossed in green block letters at bottom	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Revalidated for 1943 and 1944 with windshield stickers, due to metal conservation for World War II.
1945–46	Embossed green numbers on white plate; "WASHINGTON 1945" embossed in green block letters at top	none	A-12345 AB-1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Revalidated for 1946 with windshield stickers.
1947–48	Embossed green numbers on unpainted aluminum plate; "WASHINGTON 1947" embossed in green block letters at bottom	none	A·12·345 AB·1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Revalidated for 1948 with windshield stickers.
1949	Embossed green numbers on unpainted aluminum plate; "WASHINGTON 1949" embossed in green block letters at top	none	A·12·345 AB·1234	County-coded (A or AB)
1950	Embossed green numbers on white plate; "WASHINGTON 50" embossed in green block letters at bottom	none	A123·456 AB·1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Revalidated for 1951 with silver tabs, for 1952 with windshield stickers, and for 1953 with green tabs.
1951–53	As above, but with "51" instead of "50"	none	A123·456 AB·1234	County-coded (A or AB)	Single plate issued only to new registrants. Revalidated for 1952 and 1953 in the same manner as for 1950 plates.
1954–55	Embossed white numbers on green plate; "54 WASHINGTON" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	123-456 A 12-345 AB	County-coded (A or AB)	Revalidated for 1955 with silver tabs, for 1956 with white tabs, and for 1957 with green tabs.
1956–57	As above, but to 6" x 12" size, and with narrower dies and border line	none	123-456 A 12-345 AB	County-coded (A or AB)	Validated for 1956 and 1957 in the same manner as for 1954–55 plates.
1958–62	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "WASHINGTON" embossed in white block letters centered at bottom	none	ABC 123	County-coded
1963–64	Embossed green numbers on non-reflective white plate with border line; "WASH. 63" embossed in green block letters centered at bottom	none	ABC 123	County-coded
1965–67	As above, but with "WASHINGTON" centered at bottom
1968–82	As above, but reflective, and with "WASHINGTON" at top, offset to left
1983–86	As above, but with "WASHINGTON" screened rather than embossed
1987 – late 1990	Embossed dark blue numbers on reflective white plate with light blue Mount Rainier graphic and dark blue border line; "Washington" screened in red serifed letters centered at top	"Centennial Celebration" screened in red serifed letters centered at bottom	123-ABC (pickup trucks used 12345-A)	000-AAA to 999-DGP
late 1990 – July 1998		none		000-DGQ to 999-JNZ
July 1998 – December 31, 2009	As above, but without dark blue border line, and with "WASHINGTON" screened in red block letters at top, offset to left	"EVERGREEN STATE" screened in red block letters centered at bottom		000-JOA to 999-ZZZ
January 1, 2010 – present			ABC1234^[1]	AAA0000 to BAC9999 (as of May 4, 2016)

County coding

County	1- or 2-letter code, 1935-57
King	A
Pierce	B
Spokane	C
Snohomish	D
Yakima	E
Whatcom	F
Clark	G
Grays Harbor	H
Kitsap	I
Thurston	J
Chelan	K
Lewis	L
Skagit	M
Cowlitz	N
Walla Walla	O
Whitman	P
Clallam	Q
Benton	R
Kittitas	S
Lincoln	T
Okanogan	U
Pacific	V
Stevens	W
Mason	X
Jefferson	Y
Klickitat	Z
Adams	AD
Asotin	AN
Columbia	CO
Douglas	DO
Franklin	FN
Ferry	FY
Garfield	GA
Grant	GT
Island	IS
Pend Oreille	PO
Skamania	SA
San Juan	SJ
Wahkiakum	WA

References

↑ Washington DOL press release: 2 November 2009

External links

Washington license plates 1969-present

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

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