California License Plates in 2026

Standard plates

License plates verify that a vehicle is registered, identify the type of registration and connect vehicles to their owners, per the DMV's license plates page. Standard California plates are required on passenger vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, permanent trailers, trailer coaches and park trailers, and are issued when you buy a new vehicle, replace lost, stolen or damaged plates, or surrender special interest plates. Registration is renewed every year, and the year stickers (tabs) the DMV mails after a renewal go on the plates to keep them valid; the renewal itself is on the registration renewal guide. Plates generally remain with the vehicle they were issued to; personalized environmental, special recognition and special interest plates can be reassigned to another vehicle on request and payment of the fees. The sizes the DMV lists: automobile, commercial and trailer plates 12 by 6 inches; motorcycle plates 7 by 4 inches (8 by 5 before July 1, 1970); identification plates for vehicles that carry none of those 7 by 4 inches (8 by 5 before January 1, 1981). The DMV's fee schedule lists a $1 reflectorized license plate fee and $28 for replacement plates.

Special interest and special plates

The DMV's choosing your license plate page divides the rest into two groups. Special interest plates, for autos, commercial vehicles, trailers and motorcycles, carry a design and support a cause; a portion of the fee is donated to the associated charity or program, and most auto and commercial plates can be ordered online. Special plates recognize service, achievements, licenses, status, historical significance and occupations; none of their fees are donated, and most are ordered by mailing a Special Recognition License Plate Application (REG 17A). The special plates the DMV lists: Amateur Radio Call Letters, Antique Motorcycle, Bicentennial Bill of Rights, Citizens Band, Disabled Person and Disabled Veteran, Exempt, Foreign Organization, Historical Vehicles, Honorary Consul Corps, Horseless Carriages, Livery, Moped, Olympic Games 1984, Press Photographer and Special Equipment; the special recognition plates Congressional Medal of Honor, Gold Star Family, Ex-Prisoner of War, Legion of Valor, Pearl Harbor Survivor and Purple Heart; occupational plates for dealers, dismantlers, manufacturers, new vehicle distributors, remanufacturers, special equipment dealers and manufacturers, and transporters; legislative plates for the California State Assembly and Senate and the United States House and Senate; and apportioned plates (the power unit plate, and the prorate plate no longer in circulation). The special interest plates and their fees, sequential and personalized:

Source: the DMV's choosing your license plate page. The DMV's registration fees page adds that special interest plates may carry a yearly renewal fee, paid with the registration, and that special plate fees fund environmental and special programs. Special interest motorcycle plates are not available for every design.

Ordering, timing and configurations

Owners of an auto, truck, trailer or motorcycle currently registered in California may order special interest plates, per the DMV's personalized and special interest plates page. They come with a configuration chosen by the applicant (personalized) or a standard issue one (sequential); environmental plates are the standard California plate without graphics and are personalized only. The DMV's online ordering page is for original requests only, needs the registration card, mails the plates to the address on file (a Change of Address, DMV 14, should go in 72 hours before ordering), and adds a 1.95 percent processing fee to card payments; gifts, renewals, retention, replacement, conversion and transfers go on the Special Interest License Plate Application (REG 17) by mail. Personalized plates are available for pickup about 8 to 12 weeks after the order is processed, with a notice by mail, and if the registration expires within 30 days of the pickup date it must be renewed first; sequential plates are mailed to the address on the record in about 4 to 6 weeks, and plate orders take additional time per the DMV's processing times page. Whether a configuration is taken can be checked online; the DMV may refuse any combination offensive to good taste and decency, misleading or in conflict with an existing series, and does not allow numbers substituted for letters or the reverse. A special interest plate may be given as a gift, ordered online or on the REG 17.

Keeping, reassigning, retaining and releasing plates

When you buy a vehicle that carries personalized or special interest plates, the DMV says most may stay on it only if the plate owner of record releases their priority on a REG 17 submitted with the transfer; without that release the plates must be surrendered, unless the transfer is between spouses, parents, children or grandparents. The new owner then files a separate REG 17 and pays the original plate fee even though the plates are already on the vehicle; the fee is waived only when the plate owner stays on as a registered owner, such as adding or deleting a co-owner. When you sell a vehicle and want to keep the plates, remove them before the new owner takes possession; the new owner gets regular plates free on transfer, and an annual fee may apply to you. Reassigning plates to another vehicle, holding them for future use and releasing interest all go on the REG 17; most plates held for future use carry an annual retention fee listed on the form's second page, and the DMV says an unpaid retention fee cancels the plate and may free the configuration for someone else, which also applies to a vehicle on planned nonoperation, per the PNO guide. A personalized configuration can be converted to a different plate type on the REG 17 with the conversion fee. A lost, stolen or mutilated special plate is replaced on the REG 17: a sequential configuration gets the next available number, a personalized one is duplicated, and when both personalized plates are lost or stolen the configuration cannot be reissued. The plates that need the REG 17A and cannot be ordered online: Amateur Radio, Antique Motorcycle, Congressional Medal of Honor, Gold Star Family, Historical Vehicle, Horseless Carriage, Legion of Valor, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Purple Heart and Press Photographer; personalized Livery and American Ex-Prisoner of War plates use the REG 17, and Year of Manufacture plates the YOM License Plate Application (REG 352). The deceased owner guide has the DMV's rules for special plates after an owner's death.

Changing commercial plates to auto plates

A vehicle with commercial plates may be able to exchange them for standard auto plates, per the DMV's commercial to standard plates page. Eligible: passenger vehicles that do not carry people for hire, station wagons, pickup trucks with a permanently attached camper or camper shell that meets the definition for human habitation or camping (otherwise the owner can be ticketed for not meeting the definition of an auto), vans modified for human habitation, multi-purpose vehicles and hearses. The checklist: the California Certificate of Title; a Miscellaneous Certifications (REG 256A) with the Certification of Vehicle for Human Habitation section completed, for a pickup with a camper or a van modified for habitation; a Statement of Facts (REG 256) for a vehicle altered to meet the definition of a station wagon; and the commercial plates, surrendered at a DMV office with the paperwork.

Disabled veteran plates

A veteran made permanently disabled by an injury or disease in active service with the U.S. Armed Forces may qualify for DV plates, per the DMV's disabled veteran plates page, with any one of these: a disability rated at 100 percent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the discharging service for a diagnosed disease or disorder that substantially impairs or interferes with mobility; inability to move without an assistive device; loss of the use of one or more limbs; or permanent blindness as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code section 19153. The plates exempt the veteran from all fees, except duplicates of lost, stolen or damaged plates, certificates or cards, on one vehicle the veteran owns that displays them: a passenger vehicle, a motorcycle, or a commercial vehicle of 8,000 pounds unladen or less not used for hire or profit. A veteran who qualifies for two exempt plates, such as DV and Ex-POW, cannot hold both.

The application is the Certification for Disabled Veterans License Plates (REG 256V), with its medical certification signed by a licensed physician, surgeon, chiropractor, optometrist, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife who knows the disability, or instead a certification signed by a County Veterans Service Officer, CalVet or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under Vehicle Code section 295.7; plus the current registration card or the documents to register the vehicle in the veteran's name, the plates currently on the vehicle, and a copy of proof of true full name and date of birth such as a driver's license or ID card. It goes to a DMV office or by mail to the address on the form. DV plates carry the same parking privileges and limits as disabled person placards, which the placard guide lists, and only the veteran may use them; forging a signature, displaying counterfeit plates or giving false information is punishable under the Vehicle Code sections the DMV cites. Replacements use the Application for Replacement Plates, Stickers, Documents (REG 156) with the fee, from which disabled veterans are not exempt, and damaged plates are surrendered. A veteran who prefers special interest plates needs a disabled person placard for parking privileges, and a Purple Heart recipient may take the fee exemption on Purple Heart plates instead, with a placard for parking. The plates must be surrendered within 60 days of the veteran's death. The vehicle license fee exemption for other military personnel is on the veterans and military guide.

Questions about California license plates

Do my plates stay with the car when I sell it?

Generally yes. The DMV says plates remain with the vehicle they were issued to; personalized environmental, special recognition and special interest plates can be reassigned to another vehicle on the owner's request and payment of the fees.

How long do personalized plates take?

About 8 to 12 weeks after the order is processed, for pickup, with a notice by mail when they are ready; sequential plates are mailed in about 4 to 6 weeks, per the DMV.

Can the DMV refuse a personalized configuration?

Yes. The DMV says it may refuse any combination that carries connotations offensive to good taste and decency, is misleading, or conflicts with an existing plate series, and that substituting numbers for letters or the reverse is not permitted because it can be confused with an existing plate.

Can I order special plates online?

Most auto and commercial special interest plates, yes, for original requests only. Gifts, renewals, retention, replacement, conversion and transfers use the REG 17 by mail, and special plates such as Amateur Radio, Gold Star Family, Historical Vehicle, Horseless Carriage, Legion of Valor, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Purple Heart, Congressional Medal of Honor, Antique Motorcycle and Press Photographer need the REG 17A.

What if both of my personalized plates are stolen?

The DMV says the same configuration cannot be reissued when both are lost or stolen; you must choose another. A single lost plate is duplicated, and a lost sequential plate is replaced with the next available number.

Who gets disabled veteran plates?

A veteran made permanently disabled in active service who has a 100 percent rating that substantially impairs mobility, cannot move without an assistive device, has lost the use of one or more limbs, or is permanently blind, per the DMV. The plates exempt one vehicle from registration and license fees and carry disabled person parking privileges.