License plates in the USA: vanity plates, state slogans and a plate with a protest

In Poland, a car license plate is a boring thing: letters, numbers, done. (You can order your own text, but it costs 1,000 zł and it still has to start with the letter of your region and a digit.) In the USA, a plate is a tiny billboard. Every state designs its own plates, many drivers pay extra to write their own message on them - and one city even prints a political protest right under the numbers. 🚗

Here's a quick tour: the funniest messages, the best slogans and the words you need to read them. (And yes, we'll explain what is going on in the picture at the top. 😄)

🔤 What is a vanity plate?

In the USA, you don't have to accept the random letters and numbers that the state gives you. For an extra fee, you can choose your own - this is called a vanity plate or a personalized plate. The word "vanity" means being proud of yourself, and many of these plates are exactly that: "BEST DAD", "MY RIDE", "DR SMITH".

The rules are simple, but strict. You have only a few characters - usually between five and eight, depending on the state. You apply for your message at the DMV (the Department of Motor Vehicles - the office that deals with cars and driver's licenses). And somebody there reads it. If a message is offensive or can be read in a rude way, your application is rejected.

So people get creative. They use numbers instead of letters (4 = "for", 8 = "ate", 2 = "to"), leave out vowels, and play with sounds. Can you read these? GR8 DAY, 2 FAST, L8 AGAIN, NO PROBLM. Easy! Now try the one on the first photo: OH FUDGE. Why "fudge"? Because it sounds almost like a much stronger word - but nobody can reject it. 🍫

Ready for harder ones? Try to figure out these six. Tip: read them out loud.

1. IM L8
2. CU L8R
3. XQQS ME
4. 2TH DR
5. 10SNE1
6. H2O LVR

Show answers

1. I'm late.
2. See you later.
3. Excuse me.
4. Tooth doctor - the car of a dentist.
5. Tennis, anyone?
6. Water lover - a swimmer or a sailor.

Sometimes a clever idea goes wrong. A few years ago a programmer in California ordered the plate NULL - in a database, "null" means "no value", so he hoped that the cameras would not be able to give him a ticket. The opposite happened: the system sent him the tickets of cars that had no plate number in the database. He got more than $12,000 in fines for things he had never done. 😬

This one is a nice example: VA4LVRS = "Virginia for lovers". The driver took the state's own slogan and turned it into the registration number. Which brings us to...

🏷️ Slogans on the plates

Besides the numbers, many plates carry a slogan - a short phrase that sells the state. Sometimes it is the state's official motto, and sometimes it is made up by the tourist office. (Slogans change often, so always check the newest plate - these are some well-known ones.)

Florida - "Sunshine State." Easy to guess: lots of sun, lots of oranges (on the plate, too), lots of tourists.

Utah - "Greatest Snow on Earth." Utah has big mountains and many ski resorts, and the slogan says it loud. There's even a skier on the plate.

Virginia - "Virginia Is for Lovers." It started in 1969 as a campaign for tourism, and it still works: it's easy to remember and it makes people smile.

Alaska - "The Last Frontier." A frontier is the edge of a settled area, the place where the wild land starts. Alaska is so big and so empty that it still feels like one.

Illinois - "Land of Lincoln." Abraham Lincoln lived and worked in Illinois, and the state is proud of it.

Missouri - "Show-Me State." "I'm from Missouri" means "I won't believe it until you show me proof." A great slogan for a skeptical state.

New Mexico - "Land of Enchantment." Enchantment means magic. The desert and the sunsets do the rest.

Wisconsin - "America's Dairyland." Milk, cheese and more cheese. Wisconsin is famous for its dairy farms.

Michigan - "Pure Michigan." The state has more than 3,000 miles of coastline on the Great Lakes, and the slogan is all about clean water and nature.

Idaho - "Famous Potatoes." Yes, really. Idaho grows more potatoes than any other state and it is not shy about it. 🥔

And the best story is a fight between two states. North Carolina's plates say "First in Flight", because the Wright brothers made the first flight in an airplane there in 1903. Ohio answered with "Birthplace of Aviation" - because the Wright brothers were from Ohio and built their plane there. Who is right? Both states take credit for the same airplane, and both put it on millions of cars. ✈️

✊ The plate with an opinion

Now look at the plate from Washington, D.C. Under the numbers, it says "Taxation Without Representation." This is not a tourist slogan - it's a protest.

The people of D.C. pay federal taxes like everybody else, but the city is not a state, so it has no senators and no voting member in the House of Representatives. It has only a delegate who can speak in Congress but cannot vote. The phrase comes from the American Revolution (1770s): the colonists said that it was unfair to pay taxes to a government in which they had no representation. D.C. drivers say the same thing today - on the back of every car.

Even presidents have joined the protest: Bill Clinton (in 2000) and Barack Obama (in 2013) put these plates on the presidential limousine. And since 2017 the newest plates are even more direct. They say "End Taxation Without Representation."

🗽 "Live Free or Die" - and a famous court case

New Hampshire's motto is "Live Free or Die", and it's on every plate. It comes from a toast by General John Stark in 1809 and it sounds very serious.

In the 1970s, a driver called George Maynard, a Jehovah's Witness, did not want to carry this message on his car. He covered the motto with tape, got fined, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1977 the Court decided that the state could not force him to display it. So even a plate can start a big discussion about freedom of speech!

📚 Words to remember

a license plate - a metal plate with the registration number on a car (AmE). In British English it's a number plate. Some Americans also say a tag.
You can order your license plate online.

a vanity plate - a license plate with a message chosen by the owner.
His vanity plate says "FAST ED".

a fee - money you pay for a service or a right.
There is a yearly fee for a personalized plate.

apply for - ask officially for something.
She applied for a plate with her name on it.

rejected - not accepted.
His application was rejected because the message was offensive.

offensive - rude or insulting.
Offensive messages are not allowed on license plates.

a slogan - a short phrase used to sell or promote something.
"Sunshine State" is the slogan of Florida.

a motto - a short sentence that shows the main idea or value of a person, a group or a state.
New Hampshire's motto is "Live Free or Die".

a protest - a public way of showing that you don't agree with something.
The plates are a quiet protest.

figure out - understand something or find the answer by thinking.
It took me a minute to figure out what "10SNE1" means.

a fine - money you have to pay because you broke a rule.
He got a fine for parking in the wrong place.

take credit for - say that something good happened thanks to you.
Two states take credit for the first airplane.

representation - having someone who speaks and votes for you in the government.
The colonists wanted representation in the British Parliament.

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Quick quiz

Complete the sentences with one word.

1. In Britain it's a number plate, but in the USA it's a license ______.
2. You pay an extra ______ if you want your own message on the plate.
3. The DMV can ______ a message that is rude.
4. "Live Free or Die" is the ______ of New Hampshire.
5. "Sunshine State" is a ______ of Florida.
6. The plates from Washington, D.C. are a ______ against the lack of voting rights.
7. Alaska is "The Last ______".
8. I can't ______ out what this plate means. Can you help me?
9. If you drive too fast, you will have to pay a ______.

Show answers

1. plate
2. fee
3. reject
4. motto
5. slogan
6. protest
7. Frontier
8. figure
9. fine

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Your turn!

If you could have any vanity plate (up to seven characters!), what would it say? Write your idea in the comments - and let the others guess what it means. 👇 And if your country had a slogan on its plates, what should it be?