ALPCA Best Plate of 2025: My Votes
- 1 hour ago
- 10 min read
The field is slightly thicker than last year, with a whopping 24 entrants! Lots of them look pretty good. There are fewer that I actually dislike, unlike in past years. There are two tribal issues among the US candidates, plus three internationals. So let's get cracking!
Utah - Restore, Preserve, Protect
This is a recycled template base (and a plain white one at that). It has a different logo, and a couple of different words. But other than that, it's exactly the same as many other Utah graphic plates. I have no problem with plates that appeal to different groups, but obviously recycled designs should not be candidates in this contest. They just muddy the water.
Connecticut - The Pizza State
When I read news, it's mostly about Canadian events, with some US and international content. When state governments engage in marketing campaigns, it generally falls under my radar. So I was bemused to see this offering from Connecticut, which I've long known as the Constitution State. I got to visit The Constitution State for the first time in 2024, and I've got to say that pizza was never on the radar. I assume I could have gotten pizza while in The Constitution State if I had chosen, but pizza never presented itself. Anyway, I guess Connecticut is now The Pizza State, which is news to me. Unfortunately, the blue background fade isn't new— That's recycled from past issues. So putting a thin slice on one end of the plate isn't going to save it.
Ohio - NASA Research
Like Utah, Ohio specialty plates feature a template design with an interchangeable logo. Ohio does provide a different legend to suit the theme, and they use different fonts and colours in those legends. So this plate ranks above Utah, but not by a lot. I have long been a fan of NASA, and I'm super-stoked that Artemis II is approaching the moon as I type this. and if I were an Ohioan, I would totally drive around with the iconic NASA "meatball" logo on my plate. But Ohio's specialty plates all have this same template, so it doesn't count as a new design, which I think all entrants should have in this contest. I don't expect ALPCA to do anything about this, unless maybe they end up with 47 entries, which could be unmanageable. But until then, recycled templates just get dumped at the bottom of my list. Sorry, NASA.
Oregon - Zoo
This plate is a mess. It's a new design, which automatically puts it ahead of the recycled designs. But the colour combination doesn't work for me. Pink doesn't say "zoo" to me, even if an elephant is there to give the theme away. The legibility takes a major hit by putting white numbers in front of the high-contrast graphic. Nothing about this plate works.
Colorado - Feeding the World
Colorado's entry, like past years, has potential... but it ultimately strikes out. Once again, it's trying to do too much. The biggest improvement would be to get rid of the relief shading on the mountains. It fights the serial and knocks the legibility down. Get rid of the shading, and this design would jump to my top half. Aside from the shading, my other qualms are the dual legends. Get rid of the top one, and leave it as a single legend at the bottom; whether it's "agriculture" or "feeding the world" wouldn't matter. I also think the cow divider needs to be re-worked. The image, from a distance, looks like a panda. This is a good draft that needs some help.
Florida - Margaritaville
We're into the realm of plates that I don't despise. But Florida stays near the bottom because the bright graphic interferes with the white serial; I've seen this a lot over the past few contests. But I'm also a typeface snob, and both the legends appear in Arial, which is the Microsoft-generated font that was introduced to the world through its Office suite. Arial is the same font that those dodgy carpet-cleaning businesses stick on traffic poles at intersections. If you're going to make a pretty plate, at least make the legends look more interesting than a junior high school Photoshop project.
Seneca-Cayuga nation of Oklahoma
I'm torn about this one. The legibility is okay, as the colours never get close to competing with the white serial. I like the font of the legends, which necessarily contain a lot of words, but are well-compartmentalized. I guess my main complaint is the background colours... Magenta and blue are not colours we generally see during a sunrise or sunset. The boxes below the nation name are unneccessary and look cluttered. The tree divider doesn't really meld with the colour scheme, either. If this plate were re-coloured to show orange and red beneath the same lake scene, it would help this design a great deal.
Bay Mills Reservation, Michigan - Place of the Pike
Bay Mills has issued its own plates before, but they've all mentioned the English name of "Bay Mills" explicitly. This plate uses the Ojibwe name for this community, which translates to "Place of the Pike," neatly shown as the bottom legend. The braided sweetgrass crosses the plate beneath the white serial. Legibility is so-so, but could be improved by either enlarging the braid (which would squeeze the legends), or using the shorter "retro" dies that Michigan has recently reintroduced. Perhaps reducing the contrast on the braid would further aid the legibility.
Anguilla - Rainbow City
A fairly clean design overall, and it's helped by the shorter die set, so the numbers don't bite into the darkess of the ocean. However, the palm on the left interferes with the serial. In reality, this may not be a big problem in Anguilla, since passenger plates all start with P, and other prefix letters would occupy that space for different vehicle types. The rainbow loses me, though... It looks like it's been placed there by a Photoshop amateur, and the colours within the arch seem washed out.
New York - Gold Star Family
The use of the flag beneath the serial is the biggest detractor of this design. The flag, which is high-contrast by nature, has been ghosted out in the middle, but the ghosting should continue through the right side to increase the legibility of the serial. Not a bad plate overall, and it's the last one in my countdown that takes a hit due to legibility.
Texas - Sand Dollar
Neat idea, but underwhelmingly executed. When I first laid eyes on this plate, I thought the beige object on the left was the rear-end canopy of an 1800s chuck wagon. Texas is a little further south than the Oregon trail, But hey— if Connecticut is now the Pizza State, and Texas can have a Dr. Pepper plate, then anything can happen. Texas has a long coastline, which is often overlooked as a theme, so I do applaud the idea of a sea creature on a Texas plate. But the off-white colour scheme with hints of blue and beige is a big yawner.
Montana - Search and Rescue
The story this plate tells me is that Search and Rescue has been looking in vain for Bigfoot for the past five decades. That doesn't instill a lot of confidence. I get that Bigfoot / Sasquatch —being a myth of the Northwest US— might have some inside meaning to those who volunteer at SAR. But I can only speak from my viewpoint as an outsider. I think a plate that commemorates SAR ought to stick to practical things, like a rescue chopper. I like the topographical contour lines, and the legibility is good overall, but combining a practical theme plus a mythical theme equals a confusing plate. Locals may dismiss that notion, but consider this: If Bigfoot were replaced with another mythical creature —say a unicorn— we'd still have two dissimilar themes that make no sense together.
Rhode Island - Day of Portugal
This plate is an original design. Rhode Island, to my knowledge, does not have any other optional plate that fades from yellow to white, so I put this above those with revisited, or blatantly recycled designs. But it's boring. There's a lot of white space at the bottom. Could that not have been used to place a legend for "Day of Portugal?" Moreover, if we added a fade of blue at the bottom, it would look much like a Pennsylvania optional plate, and goodness knows that the Keystone State has recycled that design far too often. Good visibility, but underwhelming.
Michigan Throwback
I actually like this plate, a lot. The nostalgia factor helps. I grew up in Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie, which has a twin city by the same name across the St. Marys River in Michigan. My family would head "over the river" and we'd see these blue plates on every vehicle. Lots of Michiganders would visit the Canadian side, so they were commonplace all over town. So, if I like it so much, why isn't it further up in my ratings? It's because of the "it's been done" factor. A few years ago, Michigan offered its navy blue and gold "Water-Winter Wonderland" '67 throwback. That was an original idea. But then in 2024, they unveiled the green and white "Water Wonderland" '63 throwback. Different plate, but not an original idea (I was harsh on it in my 2024 rankings). Michigan used many interesting colour combinations through the 1960s, but I don't think it's fair to trot out a different colour combination on the same base each year and name it a chart-topper. That said, The Great Lake State has finally gone back to its iconic typeface used on the "Michigan" legend, which is a subtle, but important touch. If this was the very first Michigan throwback released, it would easily crack my top 5. But an idea is only new once, and I can't be wowed every time they change the colour.
Pennsylvania - Let Freedom Ring
Finally, The Keystone State jettisons its gold-white-and-blue for something entirely new. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the design, but it's clean and meaningful. I think the Liberty Bell has been an underused motif on PA plates. I like how it's prominent, but not dark enough to really detract from the legibility of the serial. The only minor change I would suggest is using an even number of serial characters to keep the bell from being an afterthought. But serial formats generally don't change to accommodate design choices. While this design is a breath of fresh air for now, it's fairly stark and simple, and I think people may get tired of it within a few years.
Sonora, Mexico - Desert
Here's another new design that strikes me as fresh, stark and simple. It has high legibility, and a bit more going on than the Pennsylvania entry before it. I find Mexican plates interesting, with their QR code, aluminum manufacturing seal, and the serial number is now screened in microprint around the periphery of the embossed characters. They're all like that, but they still have an artistic flourish.
Puerto Rico - Estuario.org
Here's a plate that I actually don't like all that much, but it's in my top third. I'm not a fan of light blues on plates, which here, is the island shape. I don't mind the darker ocean as much, but light blue is somewhat boring and washed out to me. On the other hand, the legibility is very good, despite the serial placement over a two-colour design. The theme is strong, and the aquatic turtle is an effective divider. I also like the screened border. The two mini-legends below the serials could be removed. The "Estuario" web address could be placed at the bottom centre in place of the standard "Encanto" slogan.
Louisiana - Let the Arts Roll
This is another plate I'd like better if it wasn't pale blue, but the funky art on the left makes up for it. I like the embossed border, and I also like the simplicity of the design. Two minor qualms: The artwork could be enlarged to put the fish / book / crab closer to the bottom for better balance, and the state name could be made a bit larger and be pushed further to the right to better balance the art.
Massachusetts - 250 Years
I like the dark design with the white serial. The state name remains red, which adds to the semiquincentennial theme. The state name is printed large enough that it's still readable even on a dark blue background. The 13 stars for the 13 colonies further brings the historic aspect into play. Simple, eye-catching, and a very strong theme. Nicely done!
Arizona - Support Autism
Finally, a graphic plate with super-bold artwork that doesn't defeat the purpose of a plate by killing the serial number. The art is respectful of the modern understanding of autism. For a long time, a multi-coloured jigsaw puzzle piece has symbolized the "puzzling" nature of autism and its spectral nature. But more progressive thinking suggests that the "puzzle" theme implies something to be solved, or that something is amiss. This artwork signifies diversity and multiple interpretations. I like it.
Kentucky - Beautify the Bluegrass
Here's another graphic plate that maintains legibility with strong graphics and themes. Nice placement of the flag. The horses are silhouetted, which suggests them without actually showing them in detail. Many plates use detailed images of animals that don't translate well to a small size (case in point: The Holstein that looks like a panda on the Colorado plate discussed earlier). This is a beautifully-executed plate.
Delaware - 250 years
We ought to be seeing more semiquincentennial plates in 2026. Designers could take notes from Delaware. There are many American symbols throughout history... bells, statues, buildings... But on July 4, 2026, people will want to celebrate. They'll have picnics and parades, but what will all the kids remember the most? The fireworks. Fireworks are pretty. They're fun. They stop kids in their tracks as they gaze skyward in wonder. Grown-ups, too. The Delaware plate has all that, and red glare too. And maybe that's all it needs.
Nunavut - bear shape
This is a design that both is and is not new. Let's unpack that. Not new:
The bear outline, now facing the other way and more clearly that of the polar species, was adapted from Northwest Territories plates. Nunavut used that original NWT bear shape for over a decade before finally coming up with its own design.
Sorta new:
Coloured margins have not been used on general issues since the 1973 RCMP plate issued by NWT. While not a new innovation, it's refreshing to see the yellow margins on regular plates again after more than 50 years.
New:
The red inukshuk graphic is now a much more dominant feature, and it's the same one that appears on the Nunavut territorial flag, which is yellow and white. The flag doesn't appear on the plate, but it doesn't have to, as the colours do the thematic work.
The serial characters are embossed using a smaller die set that is unique to North American plates. The legibility is still excellent because of the white background.
Interestingly, there are no lower bolt holes. I suspect this may change with future manufacture.
The end result is a striking plate that isn't a duplication of what's been done before, and has subtle aspects to unify a strong theme. This is the best Canadian plate in years.
Wisconsin - Support County Forests
Wisconsin has introduced some great optional designs in recent years. This one has it all: Strong unified theme, attractive artwork, and a serial that's easy to read. Whenever designers put characters atop a graphic, there's always a risk that legibility will suffer. Orange is a colour that already contrasts well with black characters, but they faded the graphic anyway to make sure the dark trees don't clash with the serial. It's a delicate balance between legibility and graphic, but The Dairy State has nailed it. Wisconsin wins my Best Plate vote.
Want to vote? You can, if you're a member of ALPCA. Want to join? Visit their site today. Thanks to Jordan Irazabal for the full-sized images.