All the license plates in America and their designs in 2025

Have you ever wondered what car license plates in America look like and how they work? In this new section, we show you all the details and secrets so you can compare them and access all the information about each one, from states to territories. In this section, you will find the full updated list of license plates in America and their designs with examples.

Car license plates in North America

If you’ve ever wondered what all the license plates in North America look like, including Mexico and other territories with limited recognition, you can check them out at a glance below. We also provide links to full sections, showing both current and old designs from each country, as well as the international recognition code.

Where is this American License plate from?

Discover below all the updated designs of car license plates from all countries and territories in the Americas. With this list, you can quickly and easily find out where a car, motorcycle, or truck you’ve recently seen might be from. Alternatively, you can use the License Plate Identifier on matriculasdelmundo.com to discover it effortlessly.

North American car license plates by country

Below is the complete list of North American sovereign states, their international recognition codes, and the license plate designs used in each of them, so you can easily recognize them within the American continent, including territories.

North American territories license plates

In addition to the easily recognized sovereign countries, North America has a number of territories with their own license plate systems. These include Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the Bermuda Islands. Discover how these license plates look, their designs, their secrets, and their detailed functioning. One of them, Greenland, could be debated as to whether it is in Europe or in America. These designs are more varied, and there is a significant European influence in each of them. Please, find below the full list of North American territories license plates with examples.

How to differentiate American license plates?

American license plates can have varied designs, with colorful backgrounds, slogans, or phrases on the plate. This is what makes American license plates an icon for license plates worldwide. In both Canada, the United States, and Mexico, it is common to choose designs featuring famous monuments or events in each of these countries. This has been especially true since the second half of the 20th century. Before this, license plates around the world rarely featured a drawing as the background. This is partly due to the material used in the making of the American license plates.

Some designs can be very colorful, like the ones we show in the United States section. Another characteristic element is the use of stickers on the plates, often showing the month and year of the technical inspection. In some cases, the exact day is also displayed. In certain U.S. states, such as Florida, the county is shown within the state itself.

Size of North American License Plates

In addition to the designs, in the United States, some states do not use license plates on the front of vehicles. Anecdotally, some places within North America itself use unofficial "oval codes," with letters that in many cases are identical to those used by other countries worldwide. If a vehicle from a state where a front license plate is not required travels abroad, then it must use a front license plate.

Across the world, there are several types of license plates that are used more frequently. These are primarily from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Most of them use the European standard size, but the American format is so well-known that in some European states, license plates with a similar size have been created to be used on vehicles with limited space.

Central American car license plates

Car license plates in Central America are primarily similar to those used in North America and South America. However, there are also several countries, especially territories, that use the system employed in European license plates. Below are some of the main examples of Central American license plates with examples.

Caribbean car license plates

Each island and territory in the Caribbean uses its own license plate system. Generally, the plates are colorful and clearly distinguishable from one another. In some specific cases, the license plates are based on the type of vehicle. Usually, they start with the letter P to identify a private vehicle. Below, you will be able to explore all the designs from both sovereign states and territories and dependencies. Discover below how are the Caribbean license plates updated.

South American car license plates

Car license plates in South America are similar to those used in North America. Below, we explain the systems country by country, including an example for each, as well as plates used in the different territories across the continent.

License Plates of Territories in South America

In addition to the plates used in the countries shown above, South America also has several territories that use their own license plates. Below, we show which ones they are.

Mercosur Unified License Plate in South America

South and Central America comprise a long list of countries and territories with a wide variety of license plate designs. Typically referred to as car plates or automotive plates depending on the geographical area, these plates generally adopt a size more similar to the one used in United States than to the European format. Some countries are part of MERCOSUR, or MERCOSUL in Brazil, an acronym representing the Southern Common Market. Although Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay have been members since 1991, it wasn’t until 2015 that a distinct license plate design was introduced, led by Argentina after recognizing its previous system was nearing completion and a new one was needed.

Each member state of Mercosur has a different character composition to prevent license plate duplication within the Mercosur design. The size of a Mercosur plate is 400x130 mm, featuring German typography (FE-Schrift). At the top, a blue horizontal stripe displays the name of the country and its flag.

Below is a list of license plates for Mercosur member countries in South America and the year they adopted the system. Notably, Bolivia also uses this system but exclusively for commercial vehicles. Venezuela had approved the adoption of this type of plate upon its impending Mercosur membership, but this was canceled after its international suspension.

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Find below some links to check how are the license plates in other continents.