Passenger Plates 1955 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 all their passenger vehicle plates at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Alabama license plate that complied with these standards.
From 1955 to 1976, with the exception of 1974 and 1976, the standard plate design did not change except for colors. All plates had embossed numbers, border, ALABAMA, the two-digit registration year and the heart logo and HEART OF DIXIE in one color, with the base of the plate in another color. On all plates except 1973 and 1975, the heart was in the bottom left corner, with the registration year in the bottom right; 1973 and 1975 switched these two positions. HEART OF DIXIE was always above the numbers, and ALABAMA was always below, in slightly larger print than HEART OF DIXIE. Eight different color combinations in fifteen different variations were used; of those, only three combinations (1964, 1966 and 1971) were used only once. (It is interesting to note that the colors of the University of Alabama and Auburn University, the state's two biggest schools and rivals, were used in back-to-back years, 1963 & 1964.)
| Image | First issued | Design | Slogan | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
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| 1955 | black on yellow with embossed 56 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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first 6 by 12 inch plate | ||
| 1956 | yellow on black with embossed 57 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1957 | white on blue with embossed 58 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1958 | blue on white with embossed 59 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1959 | white on blue with embossed 60 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1960 | white on black with embossed 61 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1961 | white on green with embossed 62 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1962 | reflective white on blue with embossed 63 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1963 | reflective white on red with embossed 64 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1964 | reflective orange on blue with embossed 65 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1965 | reflective white on black with embossed 66 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1966 | reflective yellow on blue with embossed 67 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1967 | reflective white on red with embossed 68 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1968 | green on reflective white with embossed 69 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1969 | blue on reflective white with embossed 70 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1970 | black on reflective yellow with embossed 71 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1971 | black on reflective mint green with embossed 72 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1972 | red on reflective white with embossed 73 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1973 | black on reflective white with embossed 74 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1974 | black on reflective yellow with embossed 75 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| 1975 | blue on reflective white with embossed 76 | Heart of Dixie | Coded by county of issuance:
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| late 1976 | Dark blue embossed digits on reflective white; red Alabama State Capitol design in lower center; blue ALABAMA in serifed capitals centered at top; county name in smaller type at bottom center (early plates only) | Heart of Dixie in white letters on red heart at the upper left corner | ABC 123 | Earlier plates used stickers displaying county name. Later plates used larger serial dies. | ||
| 1982 | Red embossed digits on reflective white; Alabama in dark blue plain font centered on top | Heart of Dixie in white letters on dark blue heart at upper left corner | Coded by county of issuance:
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| late 1987 | Blue embossed digits on reflective white; red stylized Alabama at bottom center; two red hearts in upper corners, with two thin red lines at top of plate | HEART OF DIXIE in plain wide red letters centered between red lines at top | Coded by county of issuance:
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| January 1993 | Dark blue embossed digits on reflective white; blue stylized ALABAMA with elongated outer trunks of A's meeting thick blue line extending out to edges | Heart of Dixie in cursive red below ALABAMA, with red heart outline around "of" | Coded by county of issuance:
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| January 1997 | Black embossed digits on white plate with pale blue fade to top and pale red fade at bottom; stylized red Alabama with white and red shadow down and to left, centered at bottom of plate | Heart of Dixie in blue cursive with white and blue shadow at top of plate, with red heart behind "of" | Coded by county of issuance:
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| January 2002 | Red embossed digits on reflective white; red stylized Alabama centered at bottom; blue bar with white falling stars screened at top | Stars Fell on Alabama in white stylized text in blue bar; Heart of Dixie heart logo above last A in "Alabama" | Coded by county of issuance:
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Serials were embossed until early 2008, at which point they became surface-printed. | |
| 2006 | Blue digits on reflective white; flapping U.S. flag screened on background; ALABAMA in | God Bless America in stylized blue outlined in white on bottom; Heart of Dixie red heart logo in upper right corner |
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AM00001 to AM99999 00001AM to 99999AM AN00001 to AN99999 00001AN to 99999AN AP00001 to AP99999 00001AP to 99999AP AR00001 to AR99999 00001AR to 99999AR AS00001 to AS99999 00001AS to 99999AS AT00001 to AT99999 00001AT to 99999AT AV00001 to AV99999 00001AV to 99999AV AW00001 to AW99999 00001AW to 99999AW AY00001 to AY99999 00001AY to AY99999 00001AZ to 99999AZ AZ00001 to AZ99999 00001BA to 99999BA BA00001 to BA99999 00001BB to 99999BB BB00001 to BB99999 00001BC to 99999BC BC00001 to present |
Issued concurrently with 2002 and 2009 bases. Serials beginning and ending with AM were embossed but all others were surface-printed. | |
| January 2, 2009 | black screened digits with Alabama Gulf Coast graphic; blue cursive Alabama centered at bottom | Sweet Home in plain text at top; Heart of Dixie white logo with blue letters and red outline to right of "Sweet Home" | Coded by county of issuance:
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All serials are surface-printed. |
Read more about this topic: Vehicle Registration Plates Of Alabama
Famous quotes containing the words passenger, plates and/or present:
“Every American travelling in England gets his own individual sport out of the toy passenger and freight trains and the tiny locomotives, with their faint, indignant, tiny whistle. Especially in western England one wonders how the business of a nation can possibly be carried on by means so insufficient.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“I have experienced such simple delight in the trivial matters of fishing and sporting, formerly, as might have inspired the muse of Homer or Shakespeare; and now, when I turn the pages and ponder the plates of the Angler’s Souvenir, I am fain to exclaim,—
“Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud?””
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“All questions rely on the present for their solution. Time measures nothing but itself. The word that is written may be postponed, but not that on the lip. If this is what the occasion says, let the occasion say it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)