North Carolina passenger car license plate

Rick Kretschmer's License Plate Archives 

North Carolina passenger car license plate

A Pictorial History of North Carolina License Plates

Passenger car plates dated 1975 to present

 

This page presents the history of North Carolina passenger car license plates, from 1975 through the present day. 

Latest noteworthy updates to this page
  • May 3, 2024  –  Added a photo of a natural 2025 expiration First in Freedom plate. 
  • February 3, 2024  –  Added a photo of a natural 2025 expiration In God We Trust plate.  Added placeholders for other 2025 plates.  Added 2025 sticker colors and natural plate number ranges.  Updated 2024 sticker natural plate number ranges. 
  • June 8, 2023  –  Added a natural 1993 expiration plate and a 2022 First in Flight plate.  Replaced red-numbered 2008 plate photo. 
  • May 9, 2023  –  Added a photo of a natural 2024 expiration In God We Trust plate.  Updated 2024 natural plate number ranges for same. 

Introduction

This page addresses sequentially-numbered North Carolina passenger car plates dated from 1975 to the present.  From 1927 until 1980, North Carolina license plates displayed the year of issuance.  Plates and/or stickers supposedly expired each December 31, but a 46-day grace period effectively extended the registration period through February 15 of the following year.  The last non-staggered passenger car registrations were indicated either by a dated 1980 plate, or a 1980 sticker, both of which were valid through February 15, 1981.  Staggered registrations were first issued in January 1981, and the earliest expirations were indicated as the end of August 1981, but with a 15-day grace period that extended the registration to September 15, 1981.  North Carolina has consistently issued single passenger plates since 1956. 

Let me start out by saying that I generally don't collect North Carolina license plates, except in cases where I need them as part of a set.  (For example, I have a 1959 N.C. plate in my collection as part of my 1959 U.S. passenger plate set.)  Therefore, unlike most pages on this web site, very few of the plates shown here are actually from my collection, and I haven't meticulously identified each plate that's not from my collection.  However, unless noted otherwise, I did photograph all plates shown. 

So why do I even have North Carolina plate pages on my web site?  Well, I've lived in North Carolina since 2001, and so I've become very familiar with the current plates from daily observation.  As a collector, I also regularly encounter some of the more common North Carolina plate types from the past few decades.  There's also not a whole lot of information already on the web regarding North Carolina license plate history.  While I make no claim of being an expert on North Carolina plates, I do feel like I can make a contribution by documenting what I do know. 

I sincerely hope that you find this information useful.  If you find an error or have additional information, or can provide a plate or a photo of a plate that I'm missing, please send me an e-mail.  There's a link to my e-mail address at the bottom of every page. 

North Carolina passenger car plates, 1975-1991

1975 First in Freedom base, 1975-1985

1975 1976 1977 1978
(1975 and 1976 – Benzie plates)

North Carolina's first multi-year base plate was issued in 1975.  It was colored red on reflective white, and used serial format xxx-000, which had been introduced on the 1973 plate.  Serial numbers in each letter combination began at 101.  The reflective sheeting quality issues had apparently been resolved, and these plates have held up much better over the years than the 1967-1974 plates. 

The legend First in Freedom along the top edge of the plate proved to be the source of controversy, confusion, and irony.  The 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Indepenence, in which the 13 American colonies declared themselves to be free from the tyranny of the British crown, was rapidly approaching.  Several U.S. jurisdictions had already issued license plates commemorating the 1976 Bicentennial of this event and the birth of the U.S. as a nation.  In response, North Carolina proclaimed themselves to be "First in Freedom" on their 1975 license plates.  This slogan was a vague reference to the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775, in which Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (in which the city of Charlotte is located) had declared its independence from Britain.  This subtlety was, of course, completely lost on most people.  On the contrary, nearly everyone was very much aware that slavery had been legal and practiced in North Carolina until 1865, making it among the last states to actually offer freedom to all of its residents. 

1985 sticker on 1975 base
I believe these were used
until 1985

During 1975 this plate was used without stickers, as the year "75" was positioned vertically between the serial letters and numbers.  This same date also appeared on plates newly issued in 1976, 1977, 1978, and possibly early 1979.  Validation stickers were used for both new registrants and renewals during these years.  In late 1978 or early 1979, upon reaching serial PMZ-999, this plate was discontinued, in no small part due to the slogan controversy.  There seems to be disagreement among sources exactly when this plate stopped being issued.  In any event, at least some of these "Freedom" plates continued to be renewed with stickers through 1985. 

Between 1981 and 1985, all First in Freedom plates were phased out and replaced with either sloganless red-on-white plates (1981-1982) or new graphic First in Flight plates (1982-1985).  As near as I can tell, "Freedom" plates with letters AAA through JAY were replaced as they expired in 1981 and 1982, and "Freedom" plates with letters JAZ through PMZ were replaced approximately in 1985.  Or something like that. 

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Undated base, and dated 1980, 1981, and 1982 bases, 1979-1991

1979 base 1980 base 1985 sticker on 1981 base 1991 sticker on 1982 base
Natural 1979 and 1980 bases (Casadonte photos / plates); 1985 sticker on 1981 base; 1991 sticker on 1982 base (Casadonte photo / plate)

For a few years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, several different red-on-white base plates were issued to new registrants.  None of them bore the controversial First in Freedom slogan, nor any other legend for that matter. 

In about early 1979, starting with serial PNA-101, North Carolina began issuing a revised plate without the slogan or the now out-of-date embossed year.  This plate had a small square separator in place of the previous "75" year in the center of the plate.  Where the slogan had been, along the top edge, the new plate just had a big blank space.  Otherwise, this plate was pretty much the same as the 1975 base.  Being an undated plate, stickers were used to validate it even during the first year of issuance.  This plain base was issued throughout 1979 and possibly into early 1980, and I believe it could be renewed through 1986 or so. 

The embossed year 1980 was added to the plate in the blank space at the top center where the First in Freedom base had once been, starting at about plate number SYA-101.  Otherwise, the 1980 plate was identical visually to the previous, undated plate.  The 1980 plate was used without stickers during 1980, and I believe could be renewed through about 1989. 

Versions with embossed 1981 and 1982 dates were also issued; however, both of these differ from previous bases in that the state name runs across the top of the plate, and the year is at the bottom center.  Stickers therefore had to go in the bottom corners on these two bases.  Also, on both the 1981 and 1982 plates, the state name is embossed with the taller dies that had been used from 1964 through 1974.  The 1981 base began somewhere in the early- to mid-X series, and the 1982 base began at about YKA-101 and went to ZRZ-999.  These plates could be renewed through 1991. 

Due to the implementation of staggered registrations at the beginning of 1981, all dated 1981 and 1982 plates were issued with month and year expiration stickers.  Or at least they were supposed to – apparently the year sticker was omitted in a few isolated cases where it was redundant with the year stamped on the plate.  In any case, the taller state name at the top of these bases meant there was not enough room at the bottom of these plates for the stickers to fit properly. 

Based on the ranges of serials issued on each base, the numbers would indicate that the 1980 base was actually issued well into 1981, and the 1981 base was only issued for a few months in 1981.  The 1982 was actually introduced in the fall of 1981, but it too was short-lived, since it was discontinued as the graphic First in Flight plate made its debut in the spring of 1982. 

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1981-1982 conversion to staggered expiration dates

Motorists renewing their registrations for 1981 were assigned staggered expiration dates based on the first letter of their last name.  Initial staggered registration periods started in January 1981 and expired between August 1981 and July 1982.  However, new registrations issued between July and December 1980 were all renewed for 1981 with an initial expiraiton date of June 1981.  Month stickers were issued for the first time indicating the expiration month, and the 1981 and subsequent year stickers indicated the expiration year rather than the registration year.  The dated 1981 and 1982 base plates were always issued with both month and year stickers since the expiration date was no longer fixed. 

1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, and dated 1982 base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
1975 –  no sticker  Natural serial letter range AAA to approx. H series. 
1976 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. H to K series. 
1977 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. K to M series. 
1978 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. M to P series. 
1979 –  black-on-orange sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. P to S series. 
1980 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. S to V series.  (1980 sticker not used on dated 1980 base plates) 
1981 –  white-on-blue sticker   (No naturals due to start of staggered registrations; renewals only; Jun. and Aug. to Nov. expiration months only.) 
1982 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. W to Y series. 
1983 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range approx. Y series to ZRZ on this base. 
1984 through 1991 – No naturals, renewals only; see subsequent sections for sticker colors, latest possible renewal year is 1991. 

North Carolina passenger car plates, 1982-present

The graphic First in Flight plate was introduced in the spring of 1982 and continues to be issued today. 

Passenger car plates, 1982-2008

1993 Z-series 1983 5-char not spaced 1984 5-char spaced 1995 6-char reflective 1986 painted version 1 1985 6-char reflective
Five- and six-character First in Flight plates in the order they were issued:  six-character Z series (Casadonte photo / plate); five characters with no spacing between characters(Frazier photo / plate); five characters with spacing between characters; various six-character early alphabet series (all Casadonte photos / plates): reflective background, painted background with solid red North Carolina, another reflective background. 

For about the first three years, from mid-1982 to mid-1985, graphic First in Flight plates all had five or six serial characters.  The formats issued were xxx-00 and xxx-000.  In the case of the five-character plates, early issues had no spaces before or after the square separator, and so the serial characters were bunched in the middle of the plate, while later issues did have spaces and the serial was spread out across the whole plate. 

The sequence in which these plates were issued is somewhat convoluted.  Initially, serial numbers picked up where the red-on-white 1982 base plate had left off, starting with plate ZSA-101, and continued until ZZZ-999 was reached.  Again, plate numbers in each letter combination began at 101.  Then, five-character plates, as well as six-character plates with the number 100, were issued.  Five-character plate numbers started at 11 for each letter combination; this series started with AAA-11 and inexplicably ended at about XZZ-100.  Finally, six-character plates were issued starting at AAA-101 and ending at JAY-999 in mid-1985, again with each letter combination having an initial number of 101.  At this point, no further six-character plates could be issued, because the remaining numbers were still in use on the red-on-white 1975-1982 base plates. 

Although North Carolina passenger plates had had reflective backgrounds since 1967, some First in Flight plates in the six-character B, C, and D series were painted, rather than made of reflective sheeting.  There were two versions of painted plates – the earlier version in the B and C series on which the blades of grass cannot be seen behind the words North Carolina, and the later verison in the C and D series where the blades of grass are visible through the red paint of the state name.  However, there were not clean start and end points for these painted plates; reflective background plates were intermingled with the painted plates, sequence-wise. 

older Flight with July 2008 expiration close-up of 2008 sticker from the plate shown at left
The last possible expiration month for older "Flight"
plates was July 2008.  (Fox photos of plate in use) 

The five- and six-character plates could be renewed until sometime in mid-2007.  Beginning April 16, 2007, they were supposed to all be replaced with new, red-character First in Flight plates and removed from service, rather than renewed.  Mostly, they were.  However, some motorists with plates slated for replacement were nevertheless issued 2008 renewal stickers for their old plates, even though their previous registration expired in May, June, or even July 2007.  Therefore, the latest expiration stickers that should be found on these plates is July 2008, and these old plates should have been off the road by August 16, 2008.  Thanks to plate spotter Mike Fox, who has followed these developments much closer than I have, and who even sent me a photo he managed to snap of what will be one of the very last 6 digit plates on the road, one indicating a July 2008 expiration, shown at right. 

Five- and six-character First in Flight base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
1983 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial ranges: 6-character ZSA to ZZZ; all 5-character serials; then 6-character approx. A series. 
1984 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial range: 6-character approx. B to D series. 
1985 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial range: 6-character approx. D to F series. 
1986 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial range: 6-character approx. F series to JAY. 
1987 through 2008 – No naturals, renewals only; see subsequent section for sticker colors, latest possible expiration should be July 2008. 

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Passenger car plates, 1985-present

1986 1987 1988-1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997-1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 with blue numbers
(1987: Jackson photo and plate; 1991, 1995, and 1996: Casadonte photos and plates; 2008: plate in actual use)

First in Flight graphic plates with seven blue serial characters were issued continuously from mid-1985 until April 2007, when red serial character plates were introduced.  The serial format is xxx-0000.  The first plate number issued was ANA-1001, because the second letter of these plates is limited to the range of N through Z.  Why exactly this is so has been a long-running mystery among plate historians.  Also, the letters G, I, O, Q, and U are avoided, and in each 3-letter combination, numbering starts at 1001 and goes up to 9999.  The last blue-character plate issued is reported to be in the upper WTF-1000 series.  I've personally seen them as high as plate number WTF-1956 myself. 

Plates with prefix letters TPB through TPZ, which should have been issued in late 2004 or early 2005, were mysteriously skipped.  The rumor is that those letter series were reserved for, but never actually used on, transporter plates.  These letter prefixes were eventually issued on passenger car plates in early 2018, very much out of sequence. 

Older seven-character plates starting with letters A through H were also replaced with red character plates as they expired between about April 2007 and July 2008.  J-series plates were replaced with red character plates as they expired between June 2008 and May 2009.  K-series plates were replaced approximately in 2010; nearly all L-series plates were replaced within a few years after 2010, but I'm not exactly sure when.  But then there were no further replacements of older plates until 2021, when the state began replacing all plates 7 years old or older.  They only did that for four months before putting the replacement program on hold.  However, the 7-year replacement law remains on the books, and so it will just be a matter of time before the plate replacement program starts up again and all of these older blue-number plates are gone.  Until that happens, though, the oldest plates on the road continue to be seven-character, blue-number plates near the very end of the L series.  The oldest of these were originally issued in late 1998 with natural 1999 expirations. 

Seven-character, blue serial number First in Flight base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
1986 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial letter range: A series on this base, starting at ANA-1001. 
1987 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: A to B series. 
1988 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: B to C series. 
1989 –  black-on-orange sticker   Natural serial letter range: C series. 
1990 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: C to D series. 
1991 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial letter range: D series. 
1992 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: D to E series. 
1993 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: includes the E series. 
1994 –  white-on-orange sticker   Natural serial letter range: not determined. 
1995 –  white-on-teal-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: includes the H series. 
1996 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial letter range: H to J series. 
1997 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: J to K series. 
1998 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: includes the K series. 
1999 –  white-on-orange sticker   Natural serial letter range: includes the L series. 
2000 –  white-on-light-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: L to M series. 
2001 –  white-on-black sticker   Natural serial letter range: M to N series. 
2002 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: N to P series. 
2003 –  white-on-pale-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: P to R series. 
2004 –  white-on-orange sticker   Natural serial letter range: R to S series. 
2005 –  white-on-light-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: S to T series, excluding TPB through TPZ. 
2006 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: T to V series, excluding TPB through TPZ. 
2007 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: V to W series. 
2008 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: W series to mid-WTF on this base. 
2009 and beyond – No naturals, renewals only; see subsequent sections for sticker colors. 

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Passenger car plates, 2007-present

2008 with red numbers 2009 2010 with red numbers/ natural 2011 wtih red numbers
(2009 plate in actual use)

North Carolina officially began issuing otherwise familiar First in Flight plates with red serial characters on April 16, 2007.  A small number of these plates were issued early, during March and the first half of April, at some DMV locations that had run out of blue-character plates prematurely.  The serial format continues unchanged, and serial numbers began where the blue-character plates ended, as fate would have it, somewhere in the middle of the WTF series.  The lowest red-character plate I've seen is WTF-4338.  However, I've seen a photo that shows part of a red-character plate in the WTF-2000 series. 

The specific reason, if any, for this color change was not entirely clear.  Various DMV employees who addressed this question in the media didn't seem to really know, either, and suggested reasons that clearly were not correct.  For example, one DMV representative stated that the change was made because the blue paint faded too quickly.  This is certainly not the case, with the exception of a relatively small batch of plates issued in 1983.  In fact, the color red is actually much more prone to fading than blue, and even unfaded, is harder to read from a distance than blue. 

I believe that the actual reason for the color change was related to the replating initiative.  The intent was probably to continue replacing blue-character plates with red-character plates until there were no more of them left on the road. 

In March 2009, the N.C. DMV announced that it was discontinuing using red serial letters and numbers on its standard and vanity First in Flight license plates.  Existing red-numbered sequential plates would continue to be distributed until they were gone from inventory, which was projected to be in October 2009.  The reason given for the return to blue serial characters was that the DMV was responding to complaints about the red plates from the public (presumably because they're ugly) and from law enforcement (presumably because they're harder to read at a distance).  It apparently didn't occur to the DMV to test the readability of these plates before issuing them. 

However, another contributing factor may have been that the replating project is dependent on being funded by the state legislature each fiscal year.  In late 2008 and early 2009, the state began experiencing severe budget shortfalls, and therefore the blue-character plates were probably not going to disappear any time soon, anyway.  The replating effort was interrupted during the first half of the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and resumed in early 2010. 

As anticipated, new blue-character plates began being issued in October 2009.  However, apparently all DMV offices didn't run out of red-character plates at the same time.  As a result, some offices continued to issue remaining stocks of red-character plates at least into January 2010, with natural January 2011 expirations.  The highest red-character plate number I've seen had plate number ZND-9365. 

All red-letter plates are also affected by the 7-year replacement program begun and then paused in 2021, and so they will be off the road once that program has resumed and has replaced older plates expiring in all twelve months. 

Red serial number First in Flight base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
2008 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: mid-WTF to X series on this base. 
2009 –  white-on-purple sticker   Natural serial letter range: X to Y series. 
2010 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: Y series to approx. ZND on this base. 
2011 –  white-on-yellow sticker   Very few naturals on this base, in very late Y zeries to approx. ZND, likely with January expirations only. 
2012 and beyond – No naturals, renewals only; see subsequent section for sticker colors. 

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First in Flight passenger car plates, 2009-present

natural 2010 with blue numbers natural 2011 with blue numbers natural 2012 natural 2013 natural 2014 natural 2015 natural 2016, version 1 expiration stickers natural 2016, version 2 expiration sticker natural 2017 natural 2018 natural 2019 natural 2020 natural 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Two 2016 expiration plates are shown, with old-style and new-style expiration stickers, respectively.  (2010-2012, 2014, 2016, and 2020 plates in actual use; 2017-2019 and 2021 Casadonte photos and plates)

Blue-character First in Flight standard passenger car plates resumed being issued in October 2009.  The lowest serial number I've seen so far is ZNE-1380.  These plates are visually identical to the blue-character plates that were issued between 1985 and 2007. 

Plate number ZZZ-9999 was reached in December 2010, and plate numbers then rolled over to the AAA series, starting with plate number AAA-1001.  However, both Z-series and A-series plates were issued concurrently in December 2010, January 2011, and possibly beyond. 

Despite the return to A-series plate numbers, earlier First in Flight plate numbers are not being reissued.  Recall that until December 2010, all seven-character First in Flight passenger car plates were issued with the second letter limited to the range of N to Z.  With the new plates being issued in the early part of the alphabet, the second letter is limited to the range of A to M.  So, newly-issued A-series plates were issued with numbers between AAA-1001 and AMZ-9999 only.  After AMZ-9999 came BAA-1001.  After BMZ-9999 came CAA-1001, and so on. 

The middle letter N-to-Z format lasted 25 years, from 1985 until 2010, so the middle letter A-to-M plates should keep us going for another 20 to 25 years before they're used up. 

In late 2013, some new plates began to be issued with an orange sticker with a large black "T" in place of the normal year sticker.  The North Carolina DMV has begun collecting vehicle property taxes at the time of registration, instead of the counties sending motorists a separate bill for the tax months later.  For newly purchased vehicles, the state allows motorists to defer paying the property tax for up to 60 days after the vehicle is titled and registered.  Newly-registered vehicles for which the property tax is not paid get these orange "T" stickers, which indicate a temporary 60-day registration.  Once the property tax has been paid, the motorist receives a normal year sticker to affix to the plate. 

close-up of new month/year sticker
New month/year expiration
sticker  (plate in use) 

Effective May 26, 2015, the DMV began issuing plain black-on-white expiration stickers showing both the expiration month and year on a single sticker, and ceased issuing the separate white-on-red month stickers and colored year stickers bearing the state shape that had been used for decades.  In general, plates issued since then have only the single month-year sticker affixed in the upper right corner, while older plates also still have the old red month sticker visible in the upper left corner.  This resulted in there being two distinctly different 2016 stickers, the white-on-black year-only sticker issued prior to May 26, 2015, and the black-on-white month/year sticker issued on or after May 26.  Although rare, some plain black-on-white stickers were also made with 2015 expirations, in cases where lost or stolen plates were replaced but retain their original expiration date. 

In late December 2017, the state began issuing new First in Flight plates with prefix letters TPB through TPZ.  Had they been issued in sequence, these letter series would have been issued in late 2004 or early 2005.  Back then, although plates with prefix letters TPA were issued, the entire range of TPB through TPZ was skipped.  The speculation at the time was that the state was setting aside those prefixes to possibly use on transporter plates; however, that never happened.  It's anyone's guess why the state decided to go back and issue these numbers out of sequence in 2017 and 2018.  Usually, something like that would only happen if the state had found a stash of old plates that had been manufactured but never issued, or if the state were running out of plate numbers in the current numbering format and wanted to go back and fill holes before starting a new format.  Neither was the case with these plates.  A close examination reveals that the TPB throguh TPZ plates were very recently manufactured.  In any case, the state issued these TPB through TPZ plates between about December 2017 and March 2018, with the vast majority of them issued in January 2018.  Once these were gone, the state reverted back to issuing plates in about the FDx series. 

G as a first letter was skipped, so in 2019, plate numbering jumped from FMZ-9999 to HAA-1001.  For reasons unknown to me, North Carolina has always avoided using the letter G on standard, sequentially-numbered plates. 

The started-and-stopped 7-year plate replacement program removed from the road four months' of expirations in the Z, A, B, and C series.  Depending on when it resumes, additional letters will be slated for replacement as they reach 7 years of use. 

Blue serial number First in Flight base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
2010 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. ZNE to ZPx series on this base. 
2011 –  white-on-yellow sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. ZRx series to ZZZ, then AAx series. 
2012 –  white-on-red sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. ABx to AKx series. 
2013 –  white-on-blue sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. ALx series to AMZ, then BAA to BFx series, plus BKK, BKL, and CDB. 
2014 –  white-on-green sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. BHx series to BMZ, then CAA to CDx series, excluding BKK, BKL, and CDB. 
2015 –  white-on-hot-pink sticker  
 black-on-white sticker  
Natural serial letter range: approx. CEx series to CMZ, then DAA to DBx series.  Month stickers and white-on-pink year stickers issued prior to May 26, 2015.  Black-on-white month/year stickers issued starting May 26, 2015, but only in rare instances where a new plate is issued as a replacement for an existing plate, retaining the expiration date of the old plate. 
2016 –  white-on-black sticker  
 black-on-white sticker  
Natural serial letter range: approx. DCx series to DLx.  Month stickers and white-on-black year stickers issued prior to May 26, 2015.  Black-on-white month/year stickers issued starting May 26, 2015. 
2017 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. DMx series, then EAA to approx. EHx series. 
2018 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. EJx series to EMZ, then FAA to approx. FCx series; also TPB to TPZ. 
2019 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: TPB to TPZ, then approx. FDx series to approx FKx series. 
2020 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. FLx series to FMZ, then HAA to approx. HEx series. 
2021 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. HEx series to HMZ, then JAx series. 
2022 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. JAx series to JMx series. 
2023 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. JMx series, then KAx series to KEx series. 
2024 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. KEx series to KMZ, then LAx series. 
2025 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. LAx series and up. 

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Those orange "T" stickers
60 day temporary registration close-up of "T" sticker from the plate shown at left
Plates with both month and "T" stickers lack a clear
expiration date, but were last valid in July 2015. 
(candid photos of plate in use) 
60 day temporary registration close-up of "T" sticker from the plate shown at left
Plates with only "T" stickers indicate the expiration date on
the sticker, in this case, February 2016. 
(candid photos of plate in use) 

In late 2013, some new plates began to be issued with an orange sticker with a large black "T" in place of the normal year sticker.  At that time, the North Carolina DMV began collecting vehicle property taxes at the time of initial registration or renewal, instead of the counties sending motorists a separate bill for the tax months later.  However, the state allows motorists to defer paying the property tax for up to 60 days after a vehicle is newly titled and registered.  Vehicles for which the property tax is not paid get these orange "T" stickers, which indicate a temporary 60-day registration.  Once the property tax has been paid, the motorist received a normal year sticker, or now recieves a normal month/year sticker, to affix to the plate.  Vehicles with existing registrations which are being renewed for a subsequent registration year must pay the property tax at the same time as the registration fees. 

Prior to May 26, 2015, plates for vehicles with deferred property taxes were affixed with a month sticker corresponding to the month of issue, and a completely undated orange "T" sticker.  Thus the plate shown with the March month sticker was newly titled and registered in March 2015, and the "T" sticker expired 60 days later, sometime in May 2015.  When the tax was paid, a regular 2016 sticker would have been issued and the registration would then be valid through March 2016.  Just looking at the plate and stickers, though, if you're not familiar with what letter series were issued when, there's no way to know if the 60 day grace period ended in May 2014 or May 2015.  However, since month stickers haven't been issued since late May 2015, any plate still on the road showing both a red month sticker and an orange "T" sticker is now quite a few years beyond its grace period. 

Beginning May 26, 2015, separate month stickers were no longer issued, and the "T" stickers began to have printed on them the month and year that the 60 day grace period ended.  The plate shown with only the "T" sticker has the date "02-16" printed on the sticker, which, as you can see, is impossible to read unless you're inches away from the plate.  That's only a slight improvement from the previous situation where the "T" sticker had no date on it.  In any case, this vehicle was newly titled and registered in December 2015 and the "T" sticker was valid through sometime in February 2016.  When the tax was paid, a regular month/year sticker indicating 12-16 would have been issued and the registration would then be valid through December 2016. 

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First in Freedom passenger car plates, 2015-present

2016 "First in Freedom" 2017 "First in Freedom" 2018 "First in Freedom" 2019 "First in Freedom" 2020 "First in Freedom" 2021 "First in Freedom" 2022 "First in Freedom" 2023 "First in Freedom" 2024 "First in Freedom" 2025 "First in Freedom"
(2016 and 2017 plates in actual use)

On July 1, 2015, the North Carolina DMV introduced a new First in Freedom plate, which is a second standard plate design available at no extra cost.  From July 2015 through June 2019, motorists could choose between the familiar First in Flight design or the new First in Freedom design.  Starting in July 2019, a third option was made available; this third design is addressed in the next section. 

Apparently, the state forgot, or didn't care, about the controversy surrounding the First in Freedom slogan used on plates issued between 1975 and 1978.  However, they've made it a bit more clear what the slogan refers to this time, with the addition of two dates:  May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776.  These two dates, which also appear on the state flag, represent the dates that the Mecklenburg Declaration and Halifax Resolves were passed.  These two resolutions declared Mecklenburg County and the entire colony of North Carolina, respectively, to be independent from Great Britian. 

Freedom plates use the same numbering format as do Flight plates, but plate numbers began at PAA-1001.  I have no idea why they chose to begin in the P series.  Once PMZ-9999 was issued in 2019, numbering jumped to RAA-1001, since Flight plates in the PNA through PZZ series issued in 2001-2002 are still in use.  Since the Freedom plate design was introduced over a month after the plain black-on-white expiration stickers made their debut, all Freedom plates should have these new stickers. 

First in Freedom plates are obviously significantly less popular than First in Flight plates, as they're being issued at a much slower rate.  Probably for this reason, there seems to be much more overlap in the plate number ranges from one year to the next than on Flight plates. 

First in Freedom base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
2015 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: PAA series to approx PBx.  Only issued with 2015 expirations when issued as a replacement for an existing plate, retaining the expiration date of the old plate. 
2016 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: PAA series to approx. PBx. 
2017 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. PBx to PEx series, plus PFN and PFP. 
2018 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. PDx to PJx series, plus PKZ, but excluding PFN and PFP. 
2019 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. PHx to PLx series excluding PKZ. 
2020 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. PKx series to PMZ, excluding PKZ, then RAx series. 
2021 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. RAx series to approx RCx. 
2022 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. RCx and RDx series. 
2023 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. RDx and REx series. 
2024 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. REx series to RJx series. 
2025 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. RHx series and up. 

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In God We Trust passenger car plates, 2019-present

2020 "In God We Trust" 2021 "In God We Trust" 2022 "In God We Trust" 2023 "In God We Trust" 2024 "In God We Trust" 2025 "In God We Trust"
(2020 plate in actual use)

On July 1, 2019, the North Carolina DMV introduced a new In God We Trust plate, which is yet a third standard plate design available at no extra cost.  Motorists may now choose between the existing First in Flight and First in Freedom designs or this new In God We Trust design, all for the same charge. 

This plate features the text In God We Trust, which is the official motto of the United States, across the top, over a graphic image of the U.S. flag in the background.  It also has the text 'To Be Rather Than to Seem' bounded by single quotes, which is the English translation of the Latin official motto of the state of North Carolina, just above the state name at the bottom.  The numbering format is the same as the First in Flight and First in Freedom plates, with numbering starting at TAA-1001.  TMZ-9999 was issued in the spring of 2024, and numbering jumped to VAA-1001, since Flight plates in the TNA through TZZ series were issued years ago and are still in use. 

Other North Carolina In God We Trust plate designs, with a graphic image on the left side of the plate and with stacked suffix letters S/A, are extra-cost specialty plates. 

Standard-issue In God We Trust base plate sticker colors and natural serial letter ranges
2019 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: TAA series to approx TBx.  Only issued with 2019 expirations when issued as a replacement for an existing plate, retaining the expiration date of the old plate. 
2020 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: TAA series to approx TBx. 
2021 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. TBx series to approx TFx. 
2022 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. TFx series to approx TKx. 
2023 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. TKx series to approx TMx. 
2024 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. TMx series to TMZ, then VAA to approx. VCx series. 
2025 –  black-on-white sticker   Natural serial letter range: approx. VCx series and up. 

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Recent developments, 2020-present
7-year plate replacement program

In approximately 2019, legislation was passed requiring the NC DMV to replace license plates at the time of renewal if the plate had reached seven years of use, or would exceed seven years of use during the upcoming registration period.  This plate replacement program was to be conducted on an ongoing, permanent basis.  It was supposed to have begun on July 1, 2020, but was delayed for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  And so it did begin on January 1, 2021, but it was then suspended after only four months, due to significant, worldwide shortages of aluminum, which is of course what modern plates are made of.  This shortage is apparently also related to the pandemic, though I'm not exactly clear how.  By ceasing to replace older plates, the state could then make their existing stock of aluminum plate blanks last much longer.  However, the 7-year replacement law remains on the books, so it should just be a matter of time before the plate replacement program starts up again and the older blue-number plates, as well as all red-number plates, are gone.  But two years later, aluminum remains in short supply, and the plate replacement has not yet resumed. 

Until it happens, though, the oldest plates on the road continue to be seven-character, blue-number plates near the very end of the L series.  The oldest of these were originally issued in late 1998 with natural 1999 expirations. 

Flat passenger car plates

As part of the plate replacement program, the state is allowing motorists to keep their old plate numbers if they desire.  Replacement plates with old plate numbers are being made with flat, blue numbers, regardless of whether the original plate had blue or red numbers.  The only flat NC plates with passenger car numbers are these recent replacements with old numbers.  The plates being flat provides a visual cue that the old plate number is still valid. 

The flat plates with old numbers are available at no charge, but only on request.  The default is to get an embossed plate with a new number.  The state is not promoting or encouraging motorists to order replacement plates with old numbers due to the additional cost and effort necessary to make plates to order.  As a result, few of these have been made, and I've personally only seen a few of them myself.  However, with the plate replacement program on hold, the reissuance of old numbers on flat plates is also on hold. 

It's been reported that the state intends to start making all sequentially-numbered passenger car plates with flat numbers at some point in the future, but I've heard nothing to indicate that this will happen anytime soon. 

New "8" die
2022 "In God We Trust"
New "8" die

In early 2021, plates started showing up with different-looking "8" digits in the plate number.  The old 8 has both top and bottom loops of equal size and shape.  The new 8 has its top loop noticeably smaller than the bottom loop.  I've seen both embossed plates with this new "8" die as well as photos of flat replacement plates with similar changes to the flat "8" digit.  Regarding why this change was made, I've heard nothing official, but it's not hard to figure out.  North Carolina plate number characters are very rectangular in shape, with very squared-off corners.  Due to this, the old "8" die and the "B" die were very similar looking.  I have no doubt that plate recognition software was having a hard time distinguishing between these two characters.  The new "8" die is clearly distinguishable from the "B" die, eliminating the problem.  Shown at right is a plate with the new "8" die. 

New expiration stickers

In about May 2021, the state again changed the design of its expiration stickers.  They're still black-on-white, but otherwise are quite different from what had been issued for the previous six years.  These stickers have a three-letter month abbreviation across the top half of the sticker, a small two-digit year in the lower left corner, and the plate number across the remainder of the bottom.  I've spotted new-style stickers for every month starting with DEC 21, but they weren't widely used on plates with expirations prior to MAY 22.  The latest old-style sticker I've seen was dated 06-22.  I'm sure there was a hard cutover on a specific date, and so what kind of sticker you got depended on when you registered or re-registered your vehicle. 

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Page credits

Thanks to those who have directly contributed to the information on this page:  Mike Fox, Todd Long, Christopher Jackson, Richard Baucom, Judy Beard, Neal Adkins, Craig Frazier, Chris Benzie, and Paul Casadonte. 

Fox, Long, Jackson, Beard, Frazier, and Casadonte photos are presumed to be copyrighted by Mike Fox, Todd Long, Christopher Jackson, Judy Beard, Craig Frazier, and Paul Casadonte, respectively, and are used with permission.  Benzie plates are from the collection of Chris Benzie. 


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