North Dakota timeline
Reconstruction

North Dakota Legendary Plate

2015–present

North Dakota · current · “Peace Garden State”

Sunrise over the Badlands with a bison in the corner, and two slogans at once: LEGENDARY across the top from the state's tourism campaign, PEACE GARDEN STATE along the foot from the International Peace Garden that straddles the Manitoba border. The garden was planted in 1932 as a monument to the longest undefended frontier in the world. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.

Still on the road

This is a current issue, first seen in 2015 and still being handed out. Nothing about it is settled history: the serial sequence is still advancing, and the design will only stop where the state decides to replace it.

Source 1

Printed, not stamped

This plate is smooth. The design is printed onto flat reflective sheeting rather than pressed into the metal. It is what makes photographic backgrounds and fine detail possible at all, and it is the reason a modern plate feels like a sign where an older one feels like a stamping.

Source 1

Sources

Reference photograph of an issued plate from a collector listing (All rights reserved, cited not reproduced). Issue date, the 2016 revision of the state name lettering, and the serial format (CC BY-SA).

Source 1Source 2

Issued
Standard issue
The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
Serial format
999 AAA
Material
Flat aluminium, printed on reflective sheeting
Source license
All rights reserved, cited not reproduced
Reference
View original