These license plates are only ever issued by federal government agencies for their own fleet of official vehicles or for automobiles driven by diplomats from other countries. Only the states' Departments of Motor Vehicles are authorized to issue automobile registration plates in the United States. Currently, who is in charge of printing license plates? All American states had started issuing their own license plates for motor vehicles by 1918. Every state had to figure out how to start to regulate and control cars, drivers, and traffic as more and more vehicles started to clog the roadways. The first state to offer license plates was Massachusetts, but other states soon adopted the practice. The plate's size changed with time as the number of plates increased into the tens, hundreds, and thousands, the plate grew broader. AUTOMOBILE REGISTER' were written in white at the plate's top. The number was displayed in white against a cobalt-blue background. Iron and porcelain enamel was used to create these early Massachusetts license plates. What kind of license plates did the first have? Registration on the 1 plate belongs to one of his ancestors and is still in use. Frederick Tudor, the son of the 'Ice King,' and a road commission employee, received the earliest plate, which was simply inscribed with the number '1'. The first Massachusetts-issued license plates weren't given out until 1903, two years later. The initials of the owner were intended to be displayed on the earliest license plates, which were often manufactured on leather or metal (iron).

Despite becoming the first state to mandate license plates for cars in 1901, New York's plates were created by private owners and branded with their initials instead of being distributed by government organizations as they are today.

Empty license plate template