Vehicle registration plates of South Carolina

The U.S. state of South Carolina first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1917.

Passenger baseplates 1917 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first South Carolina license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1917	Black on white	none	12345	unknown
	1918	White on brown	none	12345	unknown
	1919	Dark blue on brown	none	12-345	unknown
150px	1930	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 1930" embossed in white block letters at bottom	"IODINE" embossed vertically in white serifed letters at far right	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1932	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate with border line; "S.C." embossed in black block letters in top left corner; "32" embossed in top right corner	"THE IODINE STATE" embossed in black block letters centered at top	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
150px	1938	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 38" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1945	Embossed yellow numbers on green plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 45" embossed in yellow block letters at top	none	A-12-345	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1946	Embossed silver numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 46" embossed in silver block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1947	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 47" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1948	Embossed yellow numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 48" embossed in yellow block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1949	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 49" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1950	Embossed black numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 50" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1951	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 51" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1952	Embossed yellow numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 52" embossed in yellow block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1953	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 53" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1954	Embossed white numbers on black plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 54" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1955	Embossed black numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 55" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123-456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1956	Embossed black numbers on yellow plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 56" embossed in black block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1957	Embossed white numbers on blue plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 57" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1958	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; "SOUTH CAROLINA 58" embossed in blue block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
150px	1959	As 1957 base, but with "59" in place of "57"	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1960	As 1958 base, but with "60" in place of "58"	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
150px	1961	Embossed red numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 61" embossed in red block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1962	Embossed white numbers on red plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 62" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
150px	1963	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 63" embossed in white block letters at top	none	A-123456	Letter corresponds to weight class
	1964	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 64" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A-123456 AA-1234	First letter corresponds to weight class	Double-letter serial format introduced for each weight class, though the single-letter format continued to be issued.
	1965	Embossed black numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 65" embossed in black block letters at top	none	A-123456 AA-1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1966	Embossed white numbers on blue plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA 66" embossed in white block letters at bottom	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1967	Embossed dark blue numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1967" embossed in dark blue block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1968	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "AUTO" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively; "19" embossed in bottom left corner and "68" in bottom right corner	none	A 123456	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1969	Embossed white numbers on blue plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1969" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1970	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed in white block letters centered at top	"300 YEARS" embossed in white block letters centered at bottom, with "1670" in bottom left corner and "1970" in bottom right corner	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class	Commemorated the 300th anniversary of the settlement of South Carolina.
	1971	Embossed white numbers on dark red plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" and "1971" embossed in white block letters centered at top and bottom respectively	none	A 123456 AA 1234	First letter corresponds to weight class
	1972	As 1968 base, but with "1972" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123		For each three-letter series, only the numbers 101 to 250 were issued. This practice continued until 1976.
	1973	As 1969 base, but with "1973" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
	1974	As 1970 base, but with "1974" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
	1975	As 1971 base, but in a brighter shade of red and with "1975" embossed at bottom	none	ABC 123
	1976–79	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; red Sabal palmetto and blue cannon screened in the center; "1775" and "1783" screened in blue on either side of cannon; red band screened at bottom containing "SOUTH CAROLINA" in white block letters in the center; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	"Bicentennial" screened in blue block letters centered at top, with "1776" to the left and "1976" to the right	ABC 123	AAA 101 to WZZ 400; AAA 401 to WZZ 500; UAA 101 to approximately UBS 400	Commemorated both the US Bicentennial and the Revolutionary War. Numbers 101 to 400 were issued for each three-letter series first, followed by numbers 401 to 500 from 1978; letters I, O, P, Q, U and Y were not used until late 1979, when U was briefly used as the first letter.
	1980–84	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; white state seal on pale blue state shape screened in the center; "South Carolina" screened in blue block letters centered at bottom; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	none	ABC 123	AAA 101 to YZZ 500 (see right)	Numbers 101 to 500 issued for each three-letter series. Letters I, O, P, Q, U and Y were not used until 1983, when U, Y, P and O were used as the first letter (in that order) after WZZ 500 was issued.
	1985–89	Embossed blue numbers on white plate; pale blue Sabal palmetto screened in the center; "SOUTH CAROLINA" screened in red serifed letters at top; debossed boxes for revalidation stickers at bottom corners	none	ABC 123	AAA 501 to ZZZ 999 (see right)	Numbers 501 to 900 issued for most three-letter series; 901 to 999 added in 1988. Letters I and Q not used, and U used only as the first letter.
	1990 - December 1997	Carolina wren (state bird). Dated "91" in right sticker box.	none	ABC 123	AAA 101 to ?	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1990 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first and, to date, only time South Carolina has been so honored.
150px	January 1998 - spring 2008	Sabal palmetto (state tree). Dated "99" in right sticker box.	Smiling Faces. Beautiful Places.	123 ABC	101 AAA to present	Numbers 101 to 900 issued for each letter series. Serials were initially embossed but were surface-printed beginning at around the X series, and extended to number 999.
150px	Summer 2008 - present	Black flat numbers on multicolored sunset background with state flag motif at center.	TRAVEL2SC.COM	ABC 123	AAA 101 to present	Serials are surface-printed.
	2016	Black flat numbers on white and blue background with state flag motif at center.	While I Breathe, I Hope.

Optional types

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
150px	February 2003 – October 2007	Embossed black numbers on light blue and white gradient plate; national and state flags on gold flagpole screened in the center; "South Carolina" screened in blue serifed letters centered at bottom	"IN GOD WE TRUST" screened in gold serifed letters centered at top, with gradient gold stripe below	123 4AB	100 1AA to approximately 400 0DT	No cost.
	October 2007 – present	As above, but with numbers screened rather than embossed			400 1DT to 999 9HN (as of November 22, 2015)

Non-passenger plates

Image	Type	Dates issued	Design	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Motorcycle	1995–2000	Embossed blue numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed at top	Z12345	Z10001 to Z99999	Serials ZA0001 through ZA9999 and Z/A10001 through Z/A99999 reserved for antique motorcycles.
		2000–07		ZA1234	ZB0001 to ZZ9999
		2007–08	As above, but with state name and letters in serial screened rather than embossed	Z/A12345	Z/B10001 to approximately Z/B40000
		2008–present	As above, but with all elements screened		Z/B40001 to present
	Truck	1996–2008	Embossed red numbers on white plate with border line; "SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed at top; "TRUCK" at bottom	P123456	P100001 to approximately P393500
		2008–15	As above, but with elements screened rather than embossed		P393501 to approximately P500000
		2015–present	Screened black numbers on white plate; "South Carolina" screened at bottom; "Property Carrying" screened at top with blue horizontal line above and red horizontal line below		P500001 to present

External links

• South Carolina license plates 1969-present
• License Plates of South Carolina