The U.S. state of Florida first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1905. Registrants provided their own license plates for display until 1918, when the state began to issue plates, becoming the last of the contiguous 48 states to do so.^[1][2]

Plates are currently issued by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Only rear plates have been required since 1922.

Florida used numeric county codes on its license plates between 1938 and 1977, with the order of the codes based on the populations of each of the state's 67 counties according to a 1935 census.^[2] There was also code 68 on plates ordered from the state tag office in Tallahassee, and code 90 on replacement plates.

Between 1932 and 1977, Florida used letters on its license plates that corresponded to the class of vehicle.

Through 1937, the letters were placed before or after the numeric part of the serial, depending on the year. When county codes (above) were introduced in 1938, the letters were placed before the code (e.g. G10-123 for a commercial truck in Broward County). From 1939 onwards, the letters were placed after the code, but before the rest of the serial (e.g. 10G-123).

Throughout this period, license plates without letters were used on passenger cars. In 1932 and 1933, they were used on cars weighing 3,000 lb and under; from 1934 through 1941, on cars weighing between 2,051 and 3,050 lb; and from 1942 through 1947, on cars weighing between 2,001 and 2,500 lb. From 1948 onwards, they were used on cars weighing between 2,501 and 3,500 lb, as there were now more heavy cars.^[2]

The state issues many non-passenger types of license plates to various vehicle classes and types.

More information Image, Type ...

Image	Type	First issued	Serial format(s)	Notes
	Amateur Radio		FCC call sign
	Antique		123 456 BB1 234 IB1 234 FBC D12	Issued to cars and trucks that are at least 30 years old and under 26,000 lb (11.7 t) FAX D68 current high
	Antique Motorcycle		Q123456
	Apportioned		A12 34B AB1 2CD	Annual plates. Issued in pairs. "A" denotes the type of vehicle. Not to confuse with AB1 2CD in regular passenger series, they never share the first two letters.
	City Government		123456 XB1234	"City" legend. XK0959 current high.
	College		1234
	County Government		123456 TB1234	"County" legend.
	Custom Vehicle	2008	VBC1D
	Dealer		MBC 123 MBC 12D MB1 23C NB1 23C PB1 23C	PM9 74T current high Not to confuse with A12 3BC in the regular series Not to confuse with MBC D12 motorcycle plates
	Disabled Person		123456  Y1BCD  Z1BCD  YB12C  ZB12C  JB12C  VB1CD
	Disabled Person – Motorcycle		1234  WB1C  XB1C
	Fleet		GBC 123	GGA 535 is the current high
	Former Military Vehicle		00123AB	Very obscure, it has been said that FL doesn't even want to issue them.
	Honorary Consul		1 123
	Horseless Carriage		12345
	Horseless Carriage - DMV
	Horseless Carriage - Permanent
	Indefinite		YB1 23C
	Manufacturer		A12 345	A11 654 current high
	Member of Congress		1 12	Serial is district number.
	Motor Scooter—driver under 21 years old		12ABC
	Motorcycle		12345A 1234AB MBCD12	E, K, L, N and R used as first letter (A) in the 1234AB serial format. MBCD12 format began 2016. Current high: MWGT50 (on 2024-01-07).
	Permanent Trailer		C12 34B 123 4CB QB1 2CD	Permanent plates. Not to confuse with regular plates CB1 234 QA4 6XI is the current high
	Restricted		U12 34B MBC 12A	Not to confuse with MBC D12 motorcycle plates
	Seminole Indian		1234
	Sheriff		12345 ZBC12	ZUZ38 current high
	State police
	Temporary registration		P-123456 Q-123456 R-123456 S-123456 ABC1234	DMW3606 current high
	Truck over 5,000 lb (2.26 t)	1986	H12 34B I12 34B M12 34B N12 34B P12 34B	County name or "SUNSHINE STATE" slogan at bottom. Issued in pairs with the validation sticker placed on the front plate. Only I00 00A - I99 99U are issued. I..V to I..Z series are passenger plates, not to be confused. P99 00I current high as of 2024-03-04.
	Transporter		G12 34B
	Wrecker		D12 34B E12 34B	"WRECKER" legend.

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Florida offers personalized license plates for an extra fee, on the standard orange blossom design and on specialty designs (below). On the orange blossom design and specialty designs with centered graphics, combinations can consist of between one and seven characters specified by the registrant, including letters, numbers, spaces and hyphens. On specialty designs with left-aligned graphics, combinations are limited to a maximum of five characters, and on the Motorcycle Specialty plate, they are limited to a maximum of six characters.^[5]

Florida has offered over 120 specialty license plates to its motorists, most for an extra fee. Some of these plates are no longer issued, while others have been redesigned since they were first issued.^[6]