The U.S. state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display

license plates A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificat ...

in 1913. , plates are issued by the

Idaho Transportation Department The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is the state of Idaho governmental organization responsible for state transportation infrastructure. This includes ongoing operations and maintenance as well as planning for future needs of the state and i ...

through its Division of Motor Vehicles. Front and rear plates are required for most classes of vehicles, while only rear plates are required for motorcycles and trailers.

Passenger baseplates

1913 to 1967

In 1956, the United States, Canada, and Mexico came to an agreement with the

American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) is a non-governmental, voluntary, tax-exempt, nonprofit educational association. AAMVA is a private corporation which strives to develop model programs in motor vehicle administration, ...

, the

Automobile Manufacturers Association The Automobile Manufacturers Association was a trade group of automobile manufacturers which operated under various names in the United States from 1911 to 1999. A different group called the Automobile Manufacturers' Association was active in the ...

and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles (except those for

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s) at in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1956 (dated 1957) issue was the first Idaho license plate that fully complied with these standards: the issues from 1952 through 1955 (dated 1953 through 1956) were all 6 inches in height by 12 inches in width, but had non-standard mounting holes.

1968 to present

County coding

The current county-coding system on standard-issue Idaho license plates has been in use since 1945. The naming convention is the order of the county in an alphabetical list followed by the first letter of the county name. For example, 2T indicates the second county beginning with T in an alphabetical list, or

Twin Falls County Twin Falls County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census, the county had a population of 90,046, making it the fifth-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat and largest city is Twin Falls ...

. If only one county begins with a particular letter, the letter alone serves as the county code. Specialty and

vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic ...

license plates do not use county codes; some non-passenger types are county-coded, while others are not.

Non-passenger types

Government types

Optional plates

Discontinued

References

External links

Idaho Motor Vehicle County Office Locations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vehicle Registration Plates Of Idaho Vehicle

Transportation in Idaho Idaho transportation-related lists