The U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

first required its residents to register their

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of pe ...

s in 1905. Registrants provided their own

license plate 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 identificati ...

s for display until 1910, when the state began to issue plates. , plates are issued by the

Michigan Secretary of State The Michigan Department of State is administered by the Secretary of State, who is elected on a partisan ballot for a term of four years in gubernatorial elections. The Secretary of State is the third-highest official in the State of Michigan. A ...

. Only rear plates have been required since 1981. For an extra charge, drivers can request a personalized plate serial as well as a second duplicate plate. Since January 1, 2015, drivers have been required to replace their plates every ten years.

Passenger baseplates

1910 to 1970

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 The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressi ...

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 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Michigan license plate that complied with these standards.

1971 to present

County coding

Michigan used two-letter county codes from 1940 to 1969, after using county coding blocks from 1933 to 1939. The letters I, O and Q were not used in these codes.

Optional plates

Special plates

The

has for many years issued specialized themed vanity license plates, e.g. "Save Our Lights" with White Shoal Light, the block "M" of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, or "Sparty" from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. These are available for an extra fee.

References

External links

Michigan license plates, 1969–present
* {{Vehicle registration plates of the United States

Michigan transportation-related lists