Last Updated on September 10, 2025 by Matt Staff
Some souvenirs don’t live in scrapbooks; they bolt to the bumper. The license plate boom of the 1970s and 1980s turned metal rectangles into tiny time capsules: state slogans, bold color blocks, Bicentennial flourishes, vanity gags, and stickers stacks that told half a life story.
This roundup celebrates the analog charm of the license plate era, when typography, paint, and punchy mottos turned every commute into a moving gallery.
1. Bright yellow and a horse rider for this 1972 Wyoming plate
2. A nice polar bear for the Northwest Territories of Canada
3. The ’77 plate of “The hospitality state”
4. A clean design for this ’89 Florida plate
5. The Golden State, 1987
6. An orange map of Florida in the middle of the plate
7. This design ran from ’78 to ’86 in Maryland
8. All eyes go straight to the big bear
9. The Land of Lincoln, 1973
10. The redesign gave it a nice touch and enhanced the “Heritage State” feeling
11. “Heart of Dixie,” with a literal heart
12. From 1970 to 1974, Ohio kept it clean and simple, but always with bright colors
13. Seat belts fastened?
14. Bright colors for these plates from the 80s
15. The Peach state ran this model all through the 80s
16. A Bicentennial plate from Oklahoma
17. An American Samoa plate from 1978
18. Vacationland with some lobster pride
19. This Arizona plate is rocking a bright golden color
20. Ohio, the birthplace of aviation
Explore more vintage content:
Tiny canvases, big nostalgia. These license plate snapshots prove design history sometimes rides at tail-light height. In the mood for more retro-friendly scrolls? Try these 15 Photos That Capture the Lives of Truckers in the 1980s-1990s, or these 17 Photos That Show Why Farming Was Better In The 1970s. You may also like these 20 Photos That Embody 1970s Motorcycle Culture.
