Washington Mount Rainier Plate
1998–presentWashington · current · “Evergreen State”
Mount Rainier drawn in pale blue behind the serial, the state name in red at the top left and EVERGREEN STATE in dark red along the foot. The design has been on Washington plates since 1998. What changed recently is how they are made: the state stopped embossing around October 2024 and has alternated between stamped and printed batches since, calling the flat version temporary, so two plates issued months apart can feel completely different. 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 1998 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.
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.
Sources
Reference photograph of an issued flat plate from the first unembossed run (CC0). Issue date, serial format and the 2024 change from embossed to flat (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- AAA9999
- Material
- Flat aluminium, printed on reflective sheeting
- Source license
- CC0
- Reference
- View original