.gif)
Vehicle registration plates of Georgia (U.S. state)
Encyclopedia
The U.S. state
of Georgia
first required its residents to register and display license plates on their motor vehicle
s in 1910. Since then the state has used a variety of license plate designs, including different designs for passenger, non-passenger, and, more recently, specialty or optional plates.
In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association
that fixed the size for all their passenger vehicle plates at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1954 (dated 1955) issue was the first Georgia license plate that met with these standards.
The 1983 plate also retained the ABC 123 serial format
For the 1990 plate, the serial format is again ABC 123, but in early 1996, ZZZ 999 is reached, and the format changes to ABC 1234 with narrow dies.
, standard passenger plates on the 1997 base may continue to be revalidated through the present at the discretion of the owner, who may instead choose to receive a new plate of the current design, although issuance of this design ceased in December 2003. Original serial formats were 000 AAA, 0000 AA (although not all letter series), and 00000 QA with narrow dies. In March 2001 a format of 0000 AAA was introduced, running until the mid-AWT series before the base and serial format are changed.
In December 2003 a 2005-dated base was introduced for new registrations. Beginning at approximately AVA 0001, the debossed left sticker box was removed, as in approximately November 2006 the state switched to a single sticker displaying both month and year of expiry, a practice that would be continued on the 2007 base.
The 2007 base retains the peach state outline graphic, but it is shifted to the center of the plate, instead of being slightly off-center to the left as in the previous design. This base continued the serial sequence of the prior base. The state's various non-passenger and optional issues gradually migrated to the new base as supplies of the old base were exhausted. , not all types have yet made the transition.
The number of optional types has increased since that time; Georgia currently offers many specialty or optional license plates, most at an extra cost to motorists.
Effective with the 2005 base, the state streamlined the ever-growing number of limited-issuance plates by instituting two-letter prefixes for almost all types other than standard passenger plates. Most of these plate types first appeared on the www.GEORGIA.gov base and are currently migrating to the new GEORGIA.gov base.
The state also offers plates for non-passenger vehicles, such as truck
s, school bus
es, and government vehicles.
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 Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
first required its residents to register and display license plates on 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 in 1910. Since then the state has used a variety of license plate designs, including different designs for passenger, non-passenger, and, more recently, specialty or optional plates.
Passenger plates 1910 to 1970
For sixty years, between 1910 and 1970, Georgia issued plates annually. The plates were dated with the year of expiry. In 1940, the slogan "Peach State" was added to the plates and used for the next thirty years. County coding was introduced in 1957 and it was revised in 1962. The 1962 codes were used through 1970.In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association
Automobile Manufacturers Association
The Automobile Manufacturers Association was a trade group of automobile manufacturers which operated under various names in the United States from 1911 to 1999....
that fixed the size for all their passenger vehicle plates at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1954 (dated 1955) issue was the first Georgia license plate that met with these standards.
| Image | Dates issued | Design | Slogan | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1941 | Orange embossed lettering and border on navy base | Peach State | 123-4AB | unknown | Peach logo sticker in center. |
 |
1951 | Green embossed lettering and border on unpainted aluminum base | Peach State | A-12345; A/B-12345 | unknown | |
|
1969 | white on black | Peach State | Coded by county of issuance and vehicle weight:
|
||
|
1970 | white on light blue | Peach State | Coded by county of issuance and vehicle weight:
|
Passenger plates 1971 to present
In 1971, the first stickers with the full county name appeared in place of the "Peach State" slogan, repalacing the numeric county codes. The plates began to be coded with the vehicle weight, a practice that continued until about 1980 or 1981.The 1983 plate also retained the ABC 123 serial format
For the 1990 plate, the serial format is again ABC 123, but in early 1996, ZZZ 999 is reached, and the format changes to ABC 1234 with narrow dies.
, standard passenger plates on the 1997 base may continue to be revalidated through the present at the discretion of the owner, who may instead choose to receive a new plate of the current design, although issuance of this design ceased in December 2003. Original serial formats were 000 AAA, 0000 AA (although not all letter series), and 00000 QA with narrow dies. In March 2001 a format of 0000 AAA was introduced, running until the mid-AWT series before the base and serial format are changed.
In December 2003 a 2005-dated base was introduced for new registrations. Beginning at approximately AVA 0001, the debossed left sticker box was removed, as in approximately November 2006 the state switched to a single sticker displaying both month and year of expiry, a practice that would be continued on the 2007 base.
The 2007 base retains the peach state outline graphic, but it is shifted to the center of the plate, instead of being slightly off-center to the left as in the previous design. This base continued the serial sequence of the prior base. The state's various non-passenger and optional issues gradually migrated to the new base as supplies of the old base were exhausted. , not all types have yet made the transition.
| Image | Dates issued | Design | Slogan | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1971 to 1975 | First multi-year plate: blue on white, dated "71" in top left corner. | none | ABC 123 (coded by vehicle weight) | AAA 101 to approximately LVO 985 | |
|
1976 | Red on white, dated "76" in top left corner, embossed state name. | none | ABC 123 (initially coded by vehicle weight) | AAA 101 to approximately TER 359 | |
 |
1980 | Red on white, dated "76" in top left corner, screened state name. | ABC 123 | ? to approximately YAA 101 | ||
|
1983 | Green on white, screened 19 and 83 in top corners. | none | ABC 123 | AAA 101 to approximately WBP 731 | |
|
1990 | Black on gradient orange and white with orange and green peach graphic at top center, dated "19" and "90" in top corners. | none | ABC 123 | AAA 101 to ZZZ 999 | |
|
by spring 1996 | ABC 1234 | AAA 1001 to approximately ADA 1001 | |||
|
1997 to March 2001 | Black on white with orange and green peach graphic at center and "... on my mind" slogan at top right, dated "98" in lower right sticker box. | ... on my mind | 123 ABC | 101 AAA to 999 ZZZ | Letters Q, U, and V used only in XAA series and later. |
| 1997 | 1234 AB | at least Q, R, S, and T series | ||||
| 1997 | 12345 QA | 10001 QA to approximately 49945 QG | ||||
|
March 2001 to December 2003 | 1234 ABC | 1001 AAA to approximately 5582 AWT | |||
 |
December 2003 to May 2007 | Black on gradient grey and white with orange and green peach graphic and state outline at center and "www.GEORGIA.gov" slogan at top in white, dated "05" in lower right sticker box. | www.GEORGIA.gov | ABC 1234 | AAA 0001 to approximately AVM 9999; at least some late AVx series plates; AWB 0001 to approximately AWB 1750 | |
 |
May 2007 to present | The www.GEORGIA.gov base is modified to remove the grey gradient in favor of a plain white background. The "www." is dropped, and "GEORGIA.gov" appears in black in a larger font at the top of the plate. | GEORGIA.gov | ABC 1234 | approximately AVN 0001 to BGP series, excluding at least some late AVx series plates and AWB 0001 to approximately AWB 1750; BVA series to BWP series; BGP series and up. |
1962 to 1970
| Code & County |
|---|
| 1: Fulton |
| 2: DeKalb |
| 3: Chatham |
| 4: Muscogee |
| 5: Bibb |
| 6: Richmond |
| 7: Cobb |
| 8: Dougherty |
| 9: Floyd |
| 10: Hall |
| 11: Lowndes |
| 12: Troup |
| 13: Clayton |
| 14: Clarke |
| 15: Walker |
| 16: Gwinnett |
| 17: Whitfield |
| 18: Glynn |
| 19: Houston |
| 20: Carroll |
| 21: Spalding |
| 22: Thomas |
| 23: Ware |
| 24: Baldwin |
| 25: Colquitt |
| 26: Laurens |
| 27: Coweta |
| 28: Bartow |
| 29: Polk |
| 30: Decatur |
| 31: Sumter |
| 32: Bullock |
| 33: Upson |
| 34: Tift |
| 35: Cherokee |
| 36: Coffee |
| 37: Catoosa |
| 38: Newton |
| 39: Burke |
| 40: Walton |
| 41: Chattooga |
| 42: Meriwether |
| 43: Mitchell |
| 44: Gordon |
| 45: Washington |
| 46: Jackson |
| 47: Stephens |
| 48: Habersham |
| 49: Grady |
| 50: Wayne |
| 51: Elbert |
| 52: Emanuel |
| 53: Crisp |
| 54: Henry |
| 55: Jefferson |
| 56: Toombs |
| 57: Douglas |
| 58: Worth |
| 59: Dodge |
| 60: Tattnall |
| 61: Brooks |
| 62: Hart |
| 63: Screven |
| 64: Haralson |
| 65: Liberty |
| 66: Barrow |
| 67: Peach |
| 68: Ben Hill |
| 69: Fannin |
| 70: Columbia |
| 71: Franklin |
| 72: Appling |
| 73: Macon |
| 74: Early |
| 75: Paulding |
| 76: Chattahoochee |
| 77: Terrell |
| 78: McDuffie |
| 79: Forsyth |
| 80: Berrien |
| 81: Cook |
| 82: Telfair |
| 83: Dooly |
| 84: Madison |
| 85: Greene |
| 86: Harris |
| 87: Randolph |
| 88: Wilkes |
| 89: Rockdale |
| 90: Monroe |
| 91: Murray |
| 92: Morgan |
| 93: Lamar |
| 94: Effingham |
| 95: Hancock |
| 96: Camden |
| 97: Pierce |
| 98: Bleckley |
| 99: Wilkinson |
| 100: Irwin |
| 101: Jenkins |
| 102: Butts |
| 103: Gilmer |
| 104: Jefferson Davis |
| 105: Pickens |
| 106: Dade |
| 107: Jones |
| 108: Turner |
| 109: Bacon |
| 110: Taylor |
| 111: Pulaski |
| 112: Fayette |
| 113: Johnson |
| 114: Twiggs |
| 115: Oglethorpe |
| 116: Wilcox |
| 117: Putnam |
| 118: Rabun |
| 119: Stewart |
| 120: Warren |
| 121: Calhoun |
| 122: Lumokin |
| 123: Pike |
| 124: Talbot |
| 125: Evans |
| 126: White |
| 127: Miller |
| 128: Seminole |
| 129: Candler |
| 130: Clinch |
| 131: Union |
| 132: Banks |
| 133: McIntosh |
| 134: Oconee |
| 135: Montgomery |
| 136: Bryan |
| 137: Lee |
| 138: Atkinson |
| 139: Jasper |
| 140: Lincoln |
| 141: Brantley |
| 142: Treutlen |
| 143: Crawford |
| 144: Marion |
| 145: Wheeler |
| 146: Heard |
| 147: Charlton |
| 148: Lanier |
| 149: Clay |
| 150: Baker |
| 151: Towns |
| 152: Long |
| 153: Dawson |
| 154: Taliafero |
| 155: Schley |
| 156: Webster |
| 157: Glascock |
| 158: Quitman |
| 159: Echols |
Non-passenger and optional types
Georgia was one of the first states to issue optional plates, introducing commemorative issues for several of its in-state colleges and universities in 1983.The number of optional types has increased since that time; Georgia currently offers many specialty or optional license plates, most at an extra cost to motorists.
Effective with the 2005 base, the state streamlined the ever-growing number of limited-issuance plates by instituting two-letter prefixes for almost all types other than standard passenger plates. Most of these plate types first appeared on the www.GEORGIA.gov base and are currently migrating to the new GEORGIA.gov base.
The state also offers plates for non-passenger vehicles, such as truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s, school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
es, and government vehicles.