Vehicle registration plates of Alabama


The U.S. state of Alabama has issued license plates for motor vehicles since 1911.
Some Alabama municipalities issued their own license plates for horse-drawn vehicles as well as automobiles prior to 1911. The earliest known plate is a bronze plate, "No. 1", issued by the city of Bessemer on a two-horse wagon in 1901, while the earliest known plate for an automobile is a 1906 dash plate issued by the city of Birmingham, originally assigned to a 1904 6-cylinder Ford. Between 1909 and 1911, Birmingham and Mobile issued annual plates made of porcelain-coated steel, while Montgomery, the state capital, issued a similar plate only in 1909.
The state first issued annual license plates on October 1, 1911, with plate #1 being issued to the Leak Funeral Home in Montgomery. Until 1980, the license year was October 1 to September 30. Porcelain plates were originally used, before the state switched to embossed metal plates in 1915. The 1916–17 plate was the first to feature the year of expiration, while the 1921–22 plate was the first to use a horsepower class system, with each class denoted by a letter. Kilby Prison near Montgomery took charge of all plate manufacture in 1928.
In 1933, the horsepower classes were replaced by weight classes, using the same letter system; these lasted until 1952. County coding was introduced in 1941.
A 1951 law added a heart shape and the phrase "Heart of Dixie" to the state's license plates, adopting a slogan created by the Alabama Chamber of Commerce. The heart motif and slogan remain in use on all standard-issue plates today.
In 1956, the United States, Canada, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles at in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 issue was the first Alabama license plate that complied with these standards. Plates are currently issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Only rear plates have been required on standard passenger vehicles since 1963.
Since 1980, Alabama has used a staggered registration system based on the first letter of the registrant's last name. Registrations expire January through November, with fleet, leased, and commercial vehicles expiring in November.

Passenger baseplates

1911 to 1976

1976 to present

Non-passenger and specialty plates

Alabama offers a variety of optional plates that motorists may display upon the payment of an additional fee as well as non-passenger plate types that are displayed on vehicles for specialized uses.

Non-passenger types

Many non-passenger types are both county-coded and weight-coded. Where noted, the county code is the first one or two regularly sized number of the serial, while the weight code is a small number beneath the letter that indicates the vehicle type.
ImageTypeFirst issuedSerial formatNotes
Ambulance/HearseOctober 20130K/0 12345
00K/0 1234		Annual plates.
ApportionedJanuary 20121234567Annual plates.
BusOctober 20130Q/0 12345
00Q/0 1234		Annual plates.
Consular OfficialOctober 201312Annual plates. "Consular Official" legend.
Cotton ModuleOctober 2013CM12345Annual plates. "Cotton Module" legend.
County Government - MotorcycleCM 123Permanent plates.
County Government - Passenger12345 CO"County" legend. Permanent plates.
County Government - Passenger - DisabledA12 CO"County" legend. Permanent plates.
Dealer - Motorcycle1234Annual plates. "Dealer" legend.
Dealer - Passenger12345Annual plates. "Dealer" legend.
Dealer Transit - Motorcycle12345Annual plates. "Dealer" legend.
Dealer Transit - Passenger12345Annual plates. "Dealer" legend.
Disabled Person - Motorcycle12G34
Disabled Person - Passenger123 AB
1A2B3
Farm Truck or Farm Truck Tractor0F/0 12345
00F/0 1234		Annual plates. "Forest" legend.
For-Hire - Limited0X/L 12345
00X/L 1234		Annual plates.
Forest Truck0L/0 12345
00L/0 1234		Annual plates. "Farm" legend.
ManufacturerMA1234Annual plates. "Manufacturer" legend.
MotorcycleJanuary 2014123456M
Municipal Government - MotorcycleMM 123Permanent plates.
Municipal Government - Passenger12345 MU"Municipal" legend. Permanent plates.
Municipal Government - Passenger - DisabledA12 MU"Municipal" legend. Permanent plates.
Municipal Government - Public Utility1234 PUD"Municipal" legend. Permanent plates.
Permanent TrailerA123456Permanent plates.
Motor Home0R/0 12345
00R/0 1234		Annual plates. Weight class as legend.
Rental Trailer0R/T 12345
00R/T 1234		Annual plates.
Taxi0Z/0 12345
00Z/0 1234		Annual plates.
Semi Trailer0TR 1234
00T/R 1234		Annual plates. "Forest" legend.
State Defense Force123SDF
State Government - MotorcycleS M12Permanent plates.
State Government - PassengerS 1234APermanent plates.
State Government - Passenger - DisabledS 12APermanent plates.
State Government - Passenger - State motor poolSMP 123Permanent plates.
Truck or Truck Tractor - 8,001 to 10,000 lb.0P/0 12345
00P/0 1234
Truck or Truck Tractor - greater than 10,000 lb.0X/0 12345
00X/0 1234		Annual plates.
U.S. Government-LoanedGL 1234"US GOV'T LOANED" legend. Permanent plates.
Vintage Vehicle - Motorcycle
Vintage Vehicle - PassengerVAB 123
Volunteer Fire DepartmentVF1234

Specialty typeshttp://revenue.alabama.gov/motorvehicle/specialty.cfm

County coding

Alabama established a numerical county-code system for its license plates in 1941, with codes 1, 2 and 3 assigned to the three most populous counties of the time, and codes 4 through 67 assigned to the remaining counties in alphabetical order. Code 70 was added in 1948 for replacement plates, followed in 1966 by code 80 for supplemental plates in counties that had run out of standard plates. The system remains in use today on passenger plates and some non-passenger types.
CodeCounty
1Jefferson
2Mobile
3Montgomery
4Autauga
5Baldwin
6Barbour
7Bibb
8Blount
9Bullock
10Butler
11Calhoun
12Chambers
13Cherokee
14Chilton
15Choctaw
16Clarke
17Clay
18Cleburne
19Coffee
20Colbert
21Conecuh
22Coosa
23Covington
24Crenshaw
25Cullman
26Dale
27Dallas
28DeKalb
29Elmore
30Escambia
31Etowah
32Fayette
33Franklin
34Geneva
35Greene
36Hale
37Henry
38Houston
39Jackson
40Lamar
41Lauderdale
42Lawrence
43Lee
44Limestone
45Lowndes
46Macon
47Madison
48Marengo
49Marion
50Marshall
51Monroe
52Morgan
53Perry
54Pickens
55Pike
56Randolph
57Russell
58Shelby
59St. Clair
60Sumter
61Talladega
62Tallapoosa
63Tuscaloosa
64Walker
65Washington
66Wilcox
67Winston
70Replacement
80Supplemental