Washington, D.C. Diplomatic License Plates

The first year of issue for distinctive Washington, D.C. license plates issued for use by diplomats is unknown. No examples from 1934 or earlier years have been reported. Until their issuance was discontinued in the mid-1980s (in favor of uniform diplomat, consul, and diplomatic staff plates issued by the U.S. Dept. of State introduced in 1984 or 1985), the format, colors, and timing of issuance of diplomatic plates duplicated those characteristics of general-issue D.C. passenger car plates. A second Diplomatic type created in 1965 for embassy personnel not granted full diplomatic status is addressed separately from this page.

The most complete collection of Washington, D.C. diplomatic license plates has been assembled by Kevin Gauthier, of Virginia. Most of the plates pictured below are from this collection. Information about this type continues below the photos.

Detailed data about diplomatic plates and registrations is scant, and most of what we know has been determined based upon observation of surviving examples. The first 150 diplomatic registrations were customarily assigned to ambassadors based upon seniority, resulting in plate no. 1 being issued to the ambassador with the longest tenure in Washington. During at least the 1960s, the first registration was assigned to Dr. Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa, of Nicaragua. Click here to see a list of individuals and legations to which 1958 diplomatic plates were assigned.

The expiration date of 1963 diplomatic plates was extended by two months, to May 31, 1964, at the request of the State Department. A February 1964 memorandum prepared by Director of Motor Vehicles George A. England and approved by the Commissioners on Feb. 11 reads as follows: "The State Department, through the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, has asked that the period of validity of current diplomatic tags be extended for a period of two months during which time a new system for dealing with diplomatic traffic violators may be developed and evaluated. I recommend that this request be granted, and further that all applications for diplomatic tags be sent to the State Department, as has been the usual practice, and that the tags be issued when the applications showing diplomatic accreditation are returned to us." This situation may be connected to the introduction of a second plate type for use by foreign representatives, the WN series, for the 1965 registration year. Click here for information about WN-prefix plates.

It is not uncommon for license plates of particular jurisdictions and years to exhibit variations in certain characteristics due to more than one manufcaturer and/or production method having been used in order for the jurisdiciton to be provided with the quantity of plates required. A good example may be seen in the three 1942 ("EX-3-31-43") plates shown here. (They're also shown near the top of this page, two with validation tabs, but we've repeated them here but without the tabs for comparative purposes.)

Dies used to emboss the registration number on plate no. 474 appear to be those used in the production of earlier plates of this type (see the 1936 and 1939 plates at the top of this page), a fact most evident in the first two letters. The stroke of the letters (DPL) on plate 474 is narrow compared to the two higher-number plates, and the composite image shown below illustrates slight differences in the appearance of city name. There are other variants of the D.C. 1942 plate, as well. For example, the expiration date on plate number 8370 pictured on our Pre-1974 Passenger plate page was embossed with a die different from that used to make any the plates shown on this page.

What is most curious about these diplomatic plates is that one of them that features the earlier plate layout (with DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA centered at the top and the expiration date centered at the bottom) (no. 792) has a higher number than the plate with the later format (no. 703). With the existence of two plates of the same base and type in different formats one would expect the plate with the earlier format to have a lower number, an expectation based upon an assumption that the format was changed midway through the plate production process.

Observant collectors will also note evidence in the lower right portion plate number 703 that it was revalidated with a tab for 1943 (dated 44) or 1944 (dated 45) of the style issued for plates of the opposite format. Discoloration in the space surrounding where a long, passenger-plate-format tab was affixed is evident. Special tabs designed for display in the upper right corner of non-passenger plates were made but were apparently not issued to all plates of that format.

	This page last updated on January 1, 2012
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