Maryland License Plates
Among license plate collectors, Maryland is perhaps best known as the state with the most variety.
Whether supporting their alma mater, favorite sports team or cause, Maryland residents can find a plate to represent their interests. The unmatched diversity of designs has been made possible by the state's specialty and personalized license plate programs. For a $25 application fee, drivers can opt for plates promoting higher education, the environment, health initiatives and more. Proceeds from these plate sales go towards supporting the featured organizations.
When I began writing this article (My first, so bear easy!) I thought it would be a quick piece. My goal was to focus especially on Maryland and its vast organizational plate program, and I wanted to explain how Maryland got to be known as the state with the most plate offerings. Maryland’s Public Information Act, or MPIA (Maryland’s version of a Freedom of Information Act), allowed me to request documents from the MVA that wouldn’t normally be published. From data sourced via multiple requests to the MVA, I still have not come to a clear number of exactly how many license plates the State of Maryland offers. They haven’t come to an exact number, either. My best guess is 1,225.
If looking directly at Maryland Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) website, there are 878 Organizational plates and 118 Military plates – for a total of 996 “optional” plates. However, this doesn’t include the standard tag, the standard handicap tag, the standard vanity tag, the standard vanity handicap tag, you get it. Through a 2022 MPIA request, I began to get a better understanding of what plates Maryland issues.
In January of 2024, I sent in a new MPIA request requesting the exact number of plates offered, to which I received an excel spreadsheet of every single plate category, along with the numbers issued in 2018-2023.
According to the data of actual issuance, there are 229 other plate classifications that are not Organizational or Military. So, are there 878 Organization + 118 Military + 229 other = 1,225 types of plates offered? Just to see, the ALPCA Archives list images for 985 plates, so there’s even more confusion. Well, from 2018-2023, the Maryland Department of Transportation/Motor Vehicle Administration actually issued 998 unique types of plates.
Here’s a brief rundown of most license plate options that the state of Maryland offers. For clarification, all the following data is from 2018-2023, and only includes new registrations, not renewals or current plates. Maryland is a two-plate state, so most of the data is referring to “pairs” of license plates. The exception to the rule is for vehicles registered as a motorcycle, tractor, trailer, historic over 50 years old and street rod over 50 years old, may display a single plate.
The Flag Tag
810,570 are issued on average a year – The standard license plate in Maryland.
Maryland drivers registering a new car would by default get this tag. The Maryland pride is in full display, with the bold image of the state flag waving. These standard-issued plates replaced the “War of 1812”, which ran from June 2010-September 2016. There has been no announcement of a replacement for the flag tag as of January 2024. All Maryland license plates are made by Maryland Correctional Enterprises, a division of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. They have a several videos showing the (prison) labor used to make Maryland plates, on the md.gov website, and YouTube.
- Handicap – 4,662 a year
- Vanity - 2,631 a year
- Handicap Vanity – 20 a year
Our Bay (Treasure/Protect the Chesapeake)
51,935 issued on average a year.
The blue Chesapeake Bay tag is the most popular optional license plate in Maryland, for an extra $10 per year renewal – all of which benefits the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Starting in 1991, with a redesign in 2018, and a noteworthy change from the term “Treasure” to “Protect” the Chesapeake. The current base also saw the removal of the blue heron.
- Vanity – 1,561 a year – An additional $50 per year - noteworthy is that for vanity tags, the blue heron was removed in the first and second base. The State must have decided that rather than covering it up, removing it would look best.
- Disabled – 349 a year
- Vanity Disabled – 9 a year
- Bay Senate Political – 1 issued in 2023
Trailer
36,623 issued on average a year.
Standard trailer tags will have an “X” in the serial number, more information available on ricksplates.com, and in the June 2015 ALPCA Off the Beaten Path feature by Sam Farley and Timothy Guy. Maryland oddly does not issue trailer tags on the standard “flag tag” base, but on an all-white background.
- Trailer Dealer – 58 a year
- Vanity Trailer “Flag Tag” – 15 a year – No image found
- Vanity Trailer “Chesapeake Bay” – 8 a year – No image found
- Vanity Trailer “Our Farms” – 4 a year – No image found
Historic Standard
41,329 issued on average a year
Historic vehicles can skip Maryland state inspection, which are required for any title changes like a purchase of a vehicle. They are sometimes used improperly, as any vehicle 20+ years old can be registered as such, and be exempt from a mechanical inspection, or emissions checks.
Maryland does not require regular vehicle inspections, resulting in a fair amount of less-than-roadworthy vehicles!
Not all historic tags are used improperly, I had Historic tags on my 1992 Lexus LS400, and mostly drove the vehicle on the weekends. According to the MVA here are some more unique Historic tag subcategories.
- Historic 50 Year – 2,420 a year
- Street Rod – 1,313 a year
- Street Rod 50 Year - 300 a year
- Historic Vanity – 125 a year
- 50 Year Historic – 37 a year - Permanent Registration!
- Motorcycle Street Rod – 23 a year
- Vanity Street Rod – 21 a year
- Vanity Street Rod 50 Year – 6 a year
Agriculture (Our Farms)
11,024 issued on average a year.
While the blue Chesapeake Bay tag sees 5 times more issuance, the Our Farms, Our Future plate is often seen in the more rural parts of the state. The extra $10 per year renewal benefits the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation.
- Vanity – 364 a year
- Disabled – 60 a year
- Agriculture Farm Truck – 57 a year
- Vanity Disabled – 2 a year – Unable to find image
Organizational
3,234 issued on average a year.
Trying to understand just how many organization plates are truly offered, I used Jordan Irazabal and Scott Zillmer’s combined research on the now-defunct mdplates.com (Available via archive.org) – in which they’ve documented 528 of 1,054 plates (As of 8/8/2023). Yes, that’s right, 1,054 organizational plates possible. Combing through the data they had, I counted 1,048 plates, along with the highest number listed for 550 plates.
When considering the diversity that Maryland offers, looking through the raw data of actual issuance of plates was a good starting point. While there are some plates that the average resident will never qualify for, such as the teacher of the year, or the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
there must be around 800 organizations that offer plates as per the MVA.
From 2018 to 2023, only 654 distinct types of organizational plates were issued. Over these five years, 16,170 organizational plates of the 6.8 million were registered! That comes out to 1 in 420 would be an organization, yet one in every four would be a temporary plate, with 1.7 million temp tags in just 3 years. Really, MVA?
Military
1,357 issued on average a year.
With over 100 options, we can’t go over them all. Just looking at highs and lows though, the most issued was Veteran U.S. Army with 218 a year, and the least issued were a 9 way split between Army Achievement Medal Motorcycle, Coast Guard Commendation Motorcycle, U.S. Coast Guard Retired, U.S. Coast Guard Retired, MC U.S. Navy Retired, MC Air Force Achievement Motorcycle, Airman's Medal, Combat Action Medal Motorcycle, and Distinguished Flying Cross Motorcycle which all saw a single issuance in 5 years. This March 2017 expiration WWV0056 sold on eBay in June of 2021 for $305
Amateur Radio Operator
8 issued on average a year.
The Amateur Radio Operator plates are of course made custom per request. As the hobby sadly sees a decline in interest, the plates do as well. In 2018 and 2019, 36 plates were issued, but from 2020-2023, only 3 amateur radio operators received new plates. A single Amateur Radio Handicap was issued in 5 years (Not the September 2011 expiration W3RJT pictured, just an example).
Motorcycles
17,138 issued on average a year.
- Historic Motorcycle – 2,444 a year
- Motorcycle Handicap – 91 a year - October 2015 expiration date – ricksplates.com – Note, this is the 1812 background, not the Handicap Flag Tag Motorcycle – one which I cannot find an image for.
- Motorcycle Vanity – 144 a year
- Motorcycle Handicap Vanity – 11 issued from 2018-2023 – Unable to find any image
- Historic Vanity Motorcycle – 6 a year -
Dealers
2,525 a year
- Motorcycle Dealers – 26 a year