United States
Federal Plates

Pictures are to scale: 1 inch is approximately 40 pixels.
If you have any corrections, additions or remarks to any of the plates or their descriptions, please e-mail me.

In the United States, most plates are issued locally by the states and territories. However, vehicles belonging to the federal government and military vehicles are registered directly by the United States. Also, since 1984 consular and diplomatic plates have been issued centrally by the State Department. Those are the only federally issued plates for non-public vehicles within the United States.

Civilian Administration Plates

	Interstate Commerce Commission plate, probably from the 1930s. These plates were used in addition to a normal state issued plate on trucks operating interstate.
	Federal government plate, A = Department of Agriculture. Early 1940s to early 1950s plate style. This was probably the first uniform U.S. government plate series. Previously, various agencies issued their own plates in distinct formats.

	Federal government plate, I = Department of the Interior. Early 1950s to late 1960s plate style.
	Federal government plate, Pre-2002 plate style, earlier version with large caption. These dies were introduced on District of Columbia plates in 1967, so I assume also this U.S. Government plate style was introduced at that time. P = U.S. Postal Service. Only passenger type cars belonging to the Postal Service use these plates. Mail delivery trucks have a number painted directly onto the body.
	Federal government plates for pool vehicles of the General Services Administration. Pre-2002 plate style, later version with small caption. G63 = one ton 4x4 truck. G10 = medium car. This plate is the much rarer reflective version. It seems that with introduction of the reflective plates leading zeros were used in the serial number.
	Federal government plate, N = Department of the Navy. I assume 94 is the vehicle's year of manufacture. 2002 onwards plate style.
	U.S. Coast Guard plate. NAF = Non Appropriated Funds. At the back of the plate is a note saying that is was presented by the Coast Guard on Governor's Island in New York in 1989.
	United States Park Police. Special 90th anniversary issue in 2007.
	Lunar Roving Vehicle plate. The car brought to the moon in 1971 by Apollo 15 had a license plate like this attached. The one in my collection is of course a replica, since the original is still on the moon. Only the Apollo 15 car had a plate, the cars of the two subsequent missions were unregistered. Probably the first crew informed the ground staff that there are no policemen on the moon anyway, so no need for a plate.

Military Plates

	Pre-1978 Army plate.
	1978 onwards Army plates. The upper plate is the more common flat style used throughout the world. The lower plate is made with German dies. These are typically used by U.S. forces in Germany on locally acquired vehicles, such as Volkswagen vans.
	U.S. Army Non Appropriated Funds plate.
	U.S. Navy plate, 91 is the vehicle's year of manufacture.
	U.S. Air Force plate, 98 is the vehicle's year of manufacture, B = civilian type vehicle. On this plate, the captions and border are embossed, the number itself is made from stickers.
	Army-Air Force Exchange Service plate.

Diplomatic Plates

	1984-2008 style diplomatic plate for an embassy in Washington. TG = Canada
	Temporary diplomatic plate. As far as I know, these plates are issued for diplomatic vehicles when they finally leave the United States.