# Vehicle registration plates of Delaware

The U.S. state of Delaware first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1905. Registrants provided their own license plates for display until 1909, when the state began to issue plates. Beginning in 1910, plates were issued in sequential order from the number 1 upwards.
As of 2022, plates are issued by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) through its Division of Motor Vehicles. Only rear plates have been required on standard passenger vehicles since 1945. All plates issued since 1942 can still be used with current stickers. Authorized reproductions of porcelain enamel plates can be obtained through a private vendor, provided they fall within the state's guidelines.
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. The first Delaware license plate that complied with these standards was issued in 1958.
Delaware allows plate-owners to transfer the rights to display a particular number on their vehicle. The inherent scarcity of low-digit plates has spawned a vibrant secondary market for low numbers.

## Secondary market

In Delaware, plate number 1 is reserved for the governor, 2 for the lieutenant governor, and 3 for the secretary of state. But all other numbers 4 and higher are allowed to be traded. Additionally, plates up to 87,000 are allowed to display replica porcelain enamel plates. These factors have caused low plate-numbers to become positional goods and status symbols.
Marketplaces have been created to facilitate exchanges. As of August 2023, one such market, Low Digit Plates, has priced five-digit plates in the low-thousands of dollars, and three-digit plates approaching $70,000. Single-digit plates are particularly valuable. Plate number 9 was traded for $185,000 in 1994 (equivalent to $392,000 in 2024). In 2008, number 6 went for $675,000 ($986,000 in 2024).

## Passenger baseplates

This is a list of the plate templates used by Delaware.

### 1909 to 1942

No slogans were used on passenger plates during the period covered by this subsection.
| First issued | Design | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
| 1909 | White on black porcelain; "DEL. 1909" at top | 1234 | 1001 to approximately 1500 | Serials followed on from those on pre-state-issued plates. |
| 1910 | Black on white porcelain; "DEL. 1910" at top | 123 | 1 to approximately 900 | |
| 1911 | White on dark blue porcelain; "DEL. 1911" at top | 1234 | 1 to approximately 1300 | |
| 1912 | White on maroon porcelain; "DEL. 1912" at top | 1234 | 1 to approximately 1800 | |
| 1913 | White on black porcelain; vertical "DEL" and "1913" at left and right respectively | 1234 | 1 to approximately 2000 | |
| 1913 | As above, but with "DEL 13" at right | 1234 | 2001 to approximately 2500 | |
| 1914 | Yellow on black porcelain; "DEL 14" at right | 1234 | 1 to approximately 3200 | |
| 1915 | Blue on white porcelain; "DEL 15" at right | 1234 | 1 to approximately 4700 | |
| 1916 | White on dark green; "DEL 16" at right | 1234 | 1 to approximately 7000 | |
| 1917 | White on black; "DEL 17" at right | 1234 | 1 to approximately 10700 | |
| 1918 | White on brown; "DEL 18" at right | 12345 | 1 to approximately 13000 | |
| 1919 | White on dark blue with border line; "DEL 19" at right | 12345 | 1 to approximately 13100 | |
| 1920 | Black on light green with border line; "DEL 20" at right | 12345 | 1 to approximately 18100 | |
| 1921 | Red on white with border line; "DEL 21" at right | 12345 | 1 to approximately 20800 | |
| 1922 | Blue on white with border line; "DEL 22" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 23-300 | |
| 1923 | White on black with border line; "DEL 23" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 25-000 | |
| 1924 | Brown on white with border line; "DEL 24" at right | 12-345 | 1 to 20-000; 30-001 to approximately 39-000 | Serials 20-001 through 30-000 reserved for commercial vehicles. |
| 1925 | Black on orange with border line; "DEL 25" at right | 12-345 | 1 to 30-000; 45-001 to approximately 48-000 | Serials 30-001 through 45-000 reserved for commercial vehicles and tractor units. |
| 1926 | Yellow on blue with border line; "DEL 26" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 37-000 | |
| 1927 | Red on gray with border line; "DEL 27" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 40-000 | |
| 1928 | Black on white with border line; "DEL 28" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 50-000 | |
| 1929 | Blue on golden yellow with border line; diamond at left and "DEL 29" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 47-000 | |
| 1930 | Golden yellow on blue with border line; diamond at left and "DEL 30" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 45-000 | |
| 1931 | As 1929 base, but with "DEL 31" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 48-000 | |
| 1932 | As 1930 base, but with "DEL '32" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 47-000 | |
| 1933 | As 1929 base, but with "DEL '33" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 48-000 | |
| 1934 | As 1930 base, but with "DEL '34" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 47-000 | |
| 1935 | As 1929 base, but with "DEL '35" at right | 12-345 | 1 to approximately 48-000 | |
| 1936 | Golden yellow on blue with border line; "DELAWARE – 36" at bottom | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 51♦000 | First use of the full state name. |
| 1937 | Blue on golden yellow with border line; "DELAWARE – 37" at bottom | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 53♦000 | |
| 1938 | Red on silver with border line; "DELAWARE – 38" at bottom | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 55♦000 | |
| 1939 | Silver on maroon with border line; "DELAWARE – 39" at bottom | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 58♦000 | |
| 1940 | Blue on golden yellow; "DEL. EX. 3-31-41" at bottom | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 60♦000 | |
| 1941 | Golden yellow on blue; "DELAWARE 3-31-42" at top | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 59♦000 | |

### 1942 to present

| First issued | Design | Slogan | Serial format | Serials issued | Notes |
| 1942 | White on black porcelain; "DEL." at top with tab slots to left and right | none | 12♦345 | 1 to approximately 87♦000$^1$ | Measures 5.5" x 9.5". Month/day tab (3/31 in black on white, 6/30 in white on green, 9/30 in white on red, or 12/31 in white on brown) fitted at top left and year tab (even-numbered years in blue on gold and odd-numbered years in gold on blue) at top right until 1963, when sticker revalidation commenced. Issued in pairs until 1945; only rear plates have been required ever since. Authorized modern reproductions allowed. |
| 1947 | Riveted polished stainless steel serial on black painted stainless steel base plate. Base embossed with Delaware on top. Insert space at bottom. Insert format continued as original. | none | 123456 | 1 to 200000$^1$ | Plates varied in size: 5-digit 9.5 x 5.5 in 6 digit 11 x 5.5 in. Renewed with metal tabs. |
| 1951 | Riveted reflective white scotchlite painted stainless steel serial on black painted stainless steel base plate. Base plate embossed with Delaware on top. Insert spaces at bottom. Insert format continued as original. | none | 123456 | 1 to 200000$^1$ | Plates were smaller than the 6 digit plates if they were 5 digits or lower. Renewed with metal tabs. |
| 1954 | Riveted reflective-coated steel serial on black painted stainless steel base plate. Base plate embossed with Delaware on top. Insert spaces at bottom. Insert format continued as original. | none | 123456 | 1 to 200000$^1$ | Plates with or less 5 digits were smaller than 6 digit plates. Renewed with metal tabs. |
| 1958 | Riveted gold serial on reflective dark blue plate; "DELAWARE" centered at top; tab slots at bottom | none | 123456 | 4 to approximately 213000$^{1-2}$ | First 6" x 12" plate. Validated with tabs until 1963, and with stickers thereafter. |
| 1962 | Riveted gold serial on reflective dark blue plate; "DELAWARE" centered at bottom | "THE FIRST STATE" centered at top | 123456 | 4 to approximately 262000$^{1-2}$ | Validated with stickers. |
| 1969 | Screened gold serial on reflective dark blue plate with gold border; "DELAWARE" centered at bottom | "THE FIRST STATE" centered at top | 123456 | 4 to 999999$^{1-2}$ | Several variations of the font used for the serial exist. Some replacement plates have riveted numbers. |
| 2008 | Screened gold serial on reflective dark blue plate with gold border; "DELAWARE" centered at bottom | "THE FIRST STATE" centered at top | 123456 | 4 to 999999$^{1-2}$ | Plates have a beveled edge around the plate as opposed to the previous all-flat plates. |
Notes: 1 The state recycles serials, so they can be found on any base. 2 Serials 1, 2 and 3 reserved for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State respectively. Plates with these serials are blue on gold with the state's coat of arms at the left.

## Non-passenger plates

Delaware does not use leading zeros on its plates, so serials are composed of a variable number of digits.
| Type | Slogan | Serial format | Notes |
| Commercial | The First State | C123456 C/L123456 | |
| Dealer | The First State | D12345 | |
| Farm Truck | The First State | FT1234 | |
| Handicapped | The First State | HP12345 | International Symbol of Access at left. |
| Limousine | The First State | LX1234 | |
| Motorcycle | none | 12345 | "M/C" at bottom left. |
| Pleasure Commercial | The First State | P/C123456 | Issued to station wagons and sport utility vehicles. |
| Recreational Trailer | The First State | RT1234 | |
| Recreational Vehicle | The First State | RV12345 | |
| State-Owned | The First State | S1234 | |
| Street Rod | The First State | SR123 | |
| Taxi | The First State | TX1234 | |
| Temporary Registration | The First State | XA123456 | Delaware started issuing temporary tags with an all-numeric format, then moved to the letter X as a prefix, then XA, XB, XC, XD, XP then XQ as of June 19, 2021 |
| Trailer | The First State | T123456 | |

## Optional plates

Delaware does not use leading zeros on its plates, so serials are composed of a variable number of digits.
| Type | Serial format | Notes |
| Centennial of Delaware License Plates | Remakes of passenger serials: 123456 Remakes of pleasure commercial serials: P/C123456 | Issued from October 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 2008 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first time Delaware was so honored. |
| Disabled American Veterans | $^{123}$$_{DAV}$ | |
| Duck | Remakes of passenger serials: 123456 | A portion of the proceeds from this license plate's sales benefit Delaware's two National Estuary Programs: the Center for the Inland Bays and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. These funds are used to improve the health of Delaware's coastal waterways, bays, and estuaries. |
| Lighthouse | Remakes of passenger serials: 123456 Remakes of pleasure commercial serials: P/C123456 | A portion of the proceeds from this license plate's sales benefit Delaware's two National Estuary Programs: the Center for the Inland Bays and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. These funds are used to improve the health of Delaware's coastal waterways and bays, or "estuaries." |
| Lighthouse—Personalized | various | A portion of the proceeds from this license plate's sales benefit Delaware's two National Estuary Program's: the Center for the Inland Bays and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. These funds are used to improve the health of Delaware's coastal waterways and bays, or "estuaries." |
| Passenger—Personalized | various | |
| Purple Heart | P/H1234 | |
| State Legislators | Legislators' initials: A. B. C. | |
| Support Pollinators | Remakes of passenger serials: 123456 | First issued June 2021. Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 2021 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the second time Delaware was so honored. |
| Telephone Pioneers | TP1234 | |
| University of Delaware | UD1234 | |
| Volunteer Firefighter | V/F1234 | |