Wyoming Bucking Horse Plate
2024–presentWyoming · current · “That's WY”
The bucking horse and rider between the two halves of the serial is a registered trademark of the State of Wyoming, which defends it: the silhouette dates to a First World War regimental insignia and the state has sued over its use. The number before it is the county, ranked by property valuation in the 1930s, and the letter after that is the vehicle class, P for passenger. Wyoming law requires the plate to be redesigned every eight years. 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 2024 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 passenger plate from a collector listing. The state publishes only artwork, carrying a placeholder serial whose county code does not exist (All rights reserved, cited not reproduced). Issue date, the county numbering, the vehicle-class letter and the eight-year redesign requirement (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- 9A 9999
- Material
- Flat aluminium, printed on reflective sheeting
- Source license
- All rights reserved, cited not reproduced
- Reference
- View original