Vehicle registration plates of Maine
Encyclopedia
The U.S. state
of Maine
first required its residents to register their motor vehicle
s and display license plates in 1905.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
first required its residents to register their motor vehicle
Motor vehicle
A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...
s and display license plates in 1905.
Passenger plates 1956 to present
| Image | Dates issued | Design | Slogan | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1956 | Embossed black on golden yellow plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration year number tab placed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 12-345 123-456 (both with square dash) |
Registration tabs fit in slots and were color-coded | |
|
1962 | Embossed black on white plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration year number tab placed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 123-456 (square dash) | Same tab system as 1956 plates | |
|
1968 | Embossed black on yellow plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration year number tab placed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 123-456 (square dash) | More yellow than 1956 plates | |
|
1969 | Embossed black on yellow plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration sticker placed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 123-456 (square dash) | First year stickers replaced metal tabs | |
|
1974 | Embossed black on white plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration year embossed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 123-456 (square dash) | Registration year now embossed directly on plate | |
|
1977 | Embossed black on white plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters above numbers and offset to left; registration sticker placed between state name and right screw hole | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 123-456 (square dash) | Sticker replaced numbers | |
|
1979 | Embossed black on white plate with border line; MAINE in wide block letters centered above numbers | VACATIONLAND in thin block letters centered below numbers | 12345 A | ||
|
1987 | Embossed navy blue on white plate with border line; red wide block MAINE screened above numbers, with red American lobster American lobster The American lobster, Homarus americanus, is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. Within North America, it is also known as the northern lobster or Maine lobster. It can reach a body length of , and a mass of over , making it the... screened behind numbers offset to right; registration month sticker at lower left; registration year sticker at lower right |
Vacationland screened in red in similar font to MAINE with enlarged V centered at bottom of plate | 1234 AB (variable number of digits preceding space) | The "Lobster" plate was partially returned as a vanity plate in the 2000s | |
 |
1999 | Embossed black on reflective white with black border; pine forest silhouette screen at bottom, with black-capped chickadee Black-capped Chickadee The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada... roosting on a pine branch with cone to far left; MAINE in wide serifed block letters screened above numbers |
Vacationland in black plain serifed italicized text screened below numbers over trees | 1234 AB (variable number of digits preceding space) (offset to right, not covering chickadee logo) |