 | ||
The U.S. state of Iowa first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1904. Registrants had to provide their own license plates for display until 1911, when the state began to supply plates.
Contents
Passenger plates 1911 to present
In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Iowa license plate that complied with these standards.
Optional types
Iowa offers its motorists a number of optional issue designs that are available upon the payment of an additional fee.
Plates of all types other than the university types are available for both automobiles and motorcycles, the latter using a smaller overall plate size. University Plates are the only plates not colored the same as the standard issue plate, the color scheme is a yellow base, with the university's main sports team color on both the numbers, and a header denoting the school (i.e. red for Iowa State University, black for University of Iowa, purple for UNI, et cetera).