Vehicle registration plates of Rhode Island

The U.S. state of Rhode Island first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1904. Plates are currently issued by the Rhode Island Department of Revenue through its Division of Motor Vehicles. Front and rear plates are required for most classes of vehicles, while only rear plates are required for motorcycles and trailers.

Rhode Island

Current series
Slogan	Ocean State
Size	12 in × 6 in 30 cm × 15 cm
Material	Aluminum
Serial format	AB-123 123-456 1AB234 1A234
Introduced	2023 (2023)
Availability
Issued by	Rhode Island Department of Revenue, Division of Motor Vehicles
History
First issued	April 13, 1904 (1904-04-13)
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Passenger baseplates

1904 to 1960

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 (except those for motorcycles) at 6 inches (15 cm) in height by 12 inches (30 cm) in width, with standardized mounting holes.^[1] The 1956 (dated 1957) issue was the first Rhode Island license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1904–08	White serial on black porcelain plate; "REGISTERED IN R.I." at top	none	1234	1 to approximately 3300
	1908–12	White serial on black porcelain plate; "RI" at right	none	1234	3301 to approximately 8700
	1912–17	Black serial on white porcelain plate; vertical "RI" at left	none	12345	1 to approximately 35000
	1918	White serial on black flat metal plate; "R.I. 1918" centered at bottom	none	12345	1 to approximately 30000	First dated plate.
	1919	Black serial on white flat metal plate; "R.I. 1919" centered at bottom	none	12345	1 to approximately 32000
	1920	White serial on black flat metal plate; "R.I. 1920" centered at bottom	none	12345	1 to approximately 37000
	1921	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "R.I. 1921" centered at bottom	none	12345	1 to approximately 43000	First embossed plate.
	1922	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "R.I. 1922" centered at bottom	none	12345	1 to approximately 50000
	1923	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "R.I. 1923" centered at bottom	none	12-345	1 to approximately 62-000
	1924	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "R.I. 1924" centered at bottom	none	12-345	1 to approximately 86-000
	1925	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "R.I. 1925" centered at bottom	none	12-345	1 to approximately 85-000
	1926	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "R.I. 1926" centered at top	none	12-345	1 to approximately 90-000
	1927	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "27 R.I." centered at top	none	12-345	1 to approximately 97-000
	1928	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "R.I. 1928" centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 108-000
	1929	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "29–R.I." centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 109-000
	1930	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND 1930" at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 115-000	First use of the full state name.
	1931	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "31 RHODE ISLAND" centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 116-000
	1932	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND 1932" centered at top	none	123-456	1 to approximately 113-000
	1933	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "33 RHODE ISLAND" centered at top	none	123-456	1 to approximately 117-000
	1934	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "1934 RHODE ISLAND" centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 125-000
	1935	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND 35" centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 130-000
	1936	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "1636 RHODE ISLAND 1936" centered at top	"300TH YEAR" centered at bottom	123-456	1 to approximately 140-000	Commemorated the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island.
	1937	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "1937 RHODE ISLAND" centered at bottom	none	123-456	1 to approximately 148-000
	1938	Embossed white serial on black plate; "R.I. 1938" at bottom	none	A1234	B1 to approximately P9000
	1939	Embossed black serial on white plate; "R.I. 39" at top	none	A-1234	B-1 to approximately R-5000
	1940	Embossed white serial on black plate; "R.I. 40" at bottom	none	A-1234	B-1 to approximately T-4000
	1941	As 1939 base, but with "R.I. 41" at top	none	A-1234	B-1 to approximately W-9000
	1942–43	As 1940 base, but with "R.I. 42" at bottom	none	A-1234	B-1 to approximately W-8000	Revalidated for 1943 with windshield stickers, due to metal conservation for World War II.
	1944–46	Embossed white serial on black plate; "R.I." at bottom, offset to left, with tab slots to right	none	A-1234	B-1 to approximately W-5000	Validated for 1944 with orange tabs, for 1945 with green tabs, and until July 31, 1946 with red tabs.
	1946–47	Embossed black serial on silver plate; "RHODE ISLAND" at bottom, with tab box between the two words	none	A1234	B1 to approximately Y9999	Validated until December 31, 1946 with silver tabs, then for 1947 with white tabs.
	1948–50	Embossed black serial on white plate; "RHODE ISLAND" at bottom, with tab slots between the two words	none	A1234	B1 to Z9999	Tab-slot plates validated each year with white tabs. All-numeric serials from 1 through 10000 were reserved, while 10001 through 19999 were used on replacement plates.
				12345	30001 to approximately 59000
	1950	As above, but with "50" instead of tab slots			59001 to approximately 71000
	1951	Embossed white serial on black plate; "RHODE 51 ISLAND" at bottom	none	A1234 12345		1951 plates revalidated for 1952 with windshield stickers. 1952 plates issued only to new registrants.
	1952	As above, but with "52" instead of "51"
	1953–54	Embossed black serial on white plate; "RHODE 53 ISLAND" at bottom	none	A1234	B1 to Z9999	Revalidated for 1954 with black tabs.
				12345	30001 to approximately 85000
	1955–56	Embossed white serial on black plate; "RHODE 55 ISLAND" at bottom	none	A1234	B1 to Z9999	Revalidated for 1956 with white tabs.
				12345	30001 to 99999
	1957–58	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND 57" at top	none	AB123	AA1 to WW999	Letters I, Q and U not used in serials, and X, Y and Z used only on replacement plates.[2] Revalidated for 1958 with black tabs.
	1959–60	Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND 59" at top	none	AB123	AA1 to WW999	Unused and replacement serial letters same as on 1957–58 base. Revalidated for 1960 with white tabs.

1961 to present

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1961–66	Embossed black serial on white plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND" at top, offset to left	none	AB123	AA1 to WW999; AI1 to approximately KX500	Validated each year with stickers, placed to the right of the state name. Letters I, Q, U, X, Y and Z used in standard serials from 1965 after the original allocation was exhausted.[2]
	1967–71	Embossed black serial on non-reflective white plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND" centered at bottom	"DISCOVER" centered at top	AB·123	AA·100 to ZZ·999 (see right)	Revalidated with stickers until 1980. After serial KZ·999 was issued, the letters I, Q, U, X, Y and Z were not used until WW·999 was reached in 1969, after which all serials with Q, U, X, Y and Z as the first letter were issued.[2]
	1972–79	As 1967–71 base, but reflective	"OCEAN STATE" centered at top	AB-123	Unused and reissued 1967–71 serials	Issued only to new registrants. During 1977, some plates were manufactured in New York, using that state's serial dies (with the letters taller than the digits) and omitting the slogan.
	1980–86	Embossed blue serial on reflective white plate with border line; "RHODE ISLAND" embossed in blue centered at bottom; blue anchor embossed at top left and last two digits of year of issue at top right	"OCEAN STATE" embossed in blue centered at top	AB-123	AA-100 to ZZ-999 (see right)	On all variants of this base, serials were issued and reissued in random order, as existing registrants generally retained the serials from their previous plates (including 1967–79 plates) when receiving new ones. During 1992, plates were manufactured in Massachusetts, using that state's serial dies.
	1986	As above, but with "Rhode Island" screened in blue centered at bottom	"Ocean State" screened in blue centered at top
	1987–93	As 1980–86 all-embossed plates, but without year of issue	"OCEAN STATE" as on 1980–86 all-embossed plates
	1993–95	As above, but with state name (still all upper case) and anchor screened	"OCEAN STATE" as above, but screened
	1995–96	As 1987–93 plates	"OCEAN STATE" as on 1987–93 plates
	1996–2023	Embossed navy blue serial on reflective white plate with gray wave graphic; "Rhode Island" screened in navy blue centered at top; navy blue anchor screened at top left	"Ocean State" screened in navy blue centered at bottom	12345 (variable number of digits) AB-12 and AB-123 123-456 1AB234 / 1AB 234	1 to 99999 AA-00 to ZZ-999 (1996–07, 2015–20) 710-001 to 399-999 (leading number progresses in reverse) (2007–15) 1AA 100 to 1KV 999 (2020–23)	Colloquially referred to as the "wave plate". Serials in the 1AL to 1BQ series of the latest format did not contain a space after the letters.
	2023–present	Screened navy blue serial on reflective light blue plate with five-wave graphic; "Rhode Island" screened in navy blue centered at top; navy blue anchor screened at top left	"Ocean State" script screened in navy blue centered at bottom	1AB 234 (plus remakes of previously-issued serials)	1LE 100 to 1ZF 266 (as of January 30, 2025)	Referred to as the Ocean Plate.

Optional plates

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1992–present	Embossed blue serial on reflective white plate; gray sailboat graphic screened in the center; "RHODE ISLAND" screened in red centered at top, with five red stripes to left and right; blue bar screened at bottom containing thirteen white stars	"Ocean State" screened in blue centered between sailboat and blue bar	as requested by registrant: 12345 AB-12 AB-123
	2023–present	Embossed navy blue serial on graphic of a Mako Shark in water; "Rhode Island" screened in dark blue centered at top between two dark blue sharks; white border	"Atlantic Shark Institute" screened in dark blue below state name.	Remakes of any standard format	Registrants transferring plates keep existing combination.[3]

Non-passenger plates

Image	Type	Dates issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Commercial	1996–2000	Similar to wave passenger base but with "COMMERCIAL" in lieu of Ocean State	123456	1 to 260089, plus reissues of dormant serials
		2023–present	As above, but with Ocean Wave background
	Combination	1996–2023	Similar to wave passenger base but with "COMBINATION" in lieu of Ocean State	123456	1 to 260089, plus reissues of dormant serials
		2023–present	As above, but with Ocean Wave background
	Fire (Municipal)	####–present	White Background with red embossing, Fire on top, Rhode Island on bottom	123		Used for fire apparatus and non-private recuses
	Jitney	1996–2023	Similar to wave passenger base but with "JITNEY" in leui of Ocean State	1234		Used by Rhode Island Public transit authority buses
		2023–present	As above, but with Ocean Wave background
	Motorcycle	1996–2000	Similar to wave passenger base but with border line; "MOTORCYCLE" embossed at top and "RI" at bottom left	12345	1 to 99999, plus reissues of dormant serials
		2023–present	As above, but with "MOTORCYCLE" and "RI" screened, and with anchor at top left
	Municipal	####–present	White background, embossed with "TOWN" or "CITY" with RHODE ISLAND at the bottom	123		Used for town and city vehicles
	Police (Municipal)	####–present	Blue Background with Ocean State with anchor on top, "Police" diagonally descending (left justified), with Rhode Island on bottom	123		used by town or city police vehicles
	Public	1996–2023	Similar to wave passenger base but with "PUBLIC" in leui of Ocean State	1234		used by Rhode Island Transit Authority vehicles and vehicles for hire (i.e. chauffeur)
		2023–present	As above, but with Ocean Wave background
	Radio Operator	1996–2000	Indistinguishable from the private passenger registration type	AB#BBB, AB#BB, where A=(A,K,N,W), B=(A-Z), #=(0-9)
		2023–present	As above, but with RADIO OPERATOR in leui of Ocean State
	State	####–present	White or Yellow background, state seal with RHODE ISLAND in alternate sailboat style	123		Used by state vehicles and Publicly owned utilities (i.e. Kent County Water Authority, Narragansett Bay Commission, etc)
	State Police	####–present	Black background white text, Ocean State with anchor on top, State Police double line left justified, with Rhode Island on bottom	123
	Sheriff	####–present	Blue Background with "Sheriff" and anchor on top with Rhode Island on bottom	12

Trivia

License plates with low serial numbers have been distributed by politicians, as a way of rewarding supporters or associates, since the state first issued plates in 1904. Such plates have become a status symbol, similar to Delaware's low-numbered plates.^[4]

Additionally, an official lottery for so-called "preferred plates" was implemented in 1995 through the Governor's Office.^[5] Passenger plates with serials consisting of two letters and up to two digits, one letter and up to three digits, or all-numeric with up to five digits, are considered "preferred plates", as are commercial, motorcycle and combination plates with serials up to four digits, war veterans' plates with serials up to three digits, and National Guard plates with serials up to two digits.

Rhode Island is also one of the few states that allows plate owners to transfer their plates to other family members in their will.^[6]

Rhode Island reissues plate numbers to new owners if that plate number is a inactive plate not registered in several years.