Texas 2004 Space Shuttle Plate
2004–2007Texas · base · “The Lone Star State”
The same plate with different numbering. The serial inverts to three digits leading three letters, the state having worked through the previous sequence, and the artwork does not move: the same plain white orbiter, the same solid red state silhouette between the groups, the same small stars. Written accounts put flag elements and enlarged stars in this period, but photographs of plates carrying this format show neither, and those changes are visible only on the plate that follows. Worth saying plainly, because side by side this and the 2000 plate are the same picture. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
One plate, several years
This design served from 2004 to 2007 rather than for a single year. A plate that stays on a car across several registrations cannot date itself, so the year is proved separately, by a tab or sticker in the earlier period and by a windscreen sticker later. It is the opposite arrangement to the annual plates, where the plate WAS the registration.
Stamped, not printed
Every character here is pressed into the metal and stands proud of the surface, along with the raised rim just inside the edge. Run a hand across it and you feel the whole design. The plate was struck from flat stock in a press, then the raised faces were rolled with paint, which is why wear shows first on the tops of the characters.
Sources
Reference is a vector rendering of the design, not a photograph of an issued plate (CC BY-SA 4.0, Thegunkid). Corroborates the 2005 separator change and the serial sequence (All rights reserved, cited not reproduced).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- 999-AAA
- Material
- Embossed aluminium with reflective sheeting
- Source license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Reference
- View original