Virginia Vanity Plates: What’s the Deal?

Chances are good that if you’ve spent any time driving in or through Virginia, you’ve tried to decipher the meaning behind another driver’s vanity plate. It could be a terrible pun, an inside joke, an homage to a favorite sports team, or all of those in one message. Out of all 50 states, Virginia leads the country in the number of vanity plates issued. Read on for more about this fun bit of trivia.

All About Vanity Plates

A vanity plate is a custom, personalized message instead of the randomly assigned letter and number combination issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). In Virginia, the plates are available for cars and motorcycles in addition to trucks.  Customers have a wide range in terms of what they can select, but the Commissioner has the discretion to deny the application. As the guidelines for what is acceptable change over time, a previously approved plate may be recalled.

A 2022 survey of rejected plates by Virginia Public Media (VPM) found that most of the rejected plates were against the stated guidelines or too offensive to be appropriate. Any application that is on the border of being approved is sent to a special committee made up of a cross-section of DMV employees who evaluate the application. Denied applicants can appeal, and sometimes take their rejections to court.

The state of Virginia also offers over 200 specialized plates, which honor anything from local colleges and universities to military service to hobbies. And, if none of those fit the bill, residents can submit their own design for consideration.

Between the personalized identifier and the specialized plate, it’s possible to have a license plate that is truly one-of-a-kind. The DMV also offers souvenir plates, so if you want one version for your actual vehicle and something fun for your office or bookshelf, it’s possible. Businesses can work with the state to get their own plates, bringing new meaning to the phrase ‘mobile marketing.’ Some plates have revenue-sharing benefits  for charity such as the Blue Ridge Parkway version and the Wildlife Eagle version.

As for why there are simply so many vanity plates in Virginia, it’s a matter of cost. The additional fee for personalization is $10 per year in addition to traditional registration costs. The DMV’s website for creating personalized plates is too fun to be considered a government resource. Endless combinations of specialized plates and messages await. 

There’s a Facebook group dedicated to sharing vanity plates.  One Virginia graduate student created a dedicated Instagram page about sharing Virginia’s vanity plates.