Vehicle registration plates of South Dakota

The U.S. state of South Dakota first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1913.

Passenger baseplates 1913 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed 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 state's first license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	First issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1913	Brown on white	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 14000
	1914	White on red	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 21000
150px	1915	Yellow on brown	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 26000
150px	1916	White on black	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 43000	First plate with actual year.
150px	1917	White on brown	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 67000
	1918	Brown on white	none	12345 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 84000
150px	1919	Silver on brown	none	123456 (variable number of digits)	1 to approximately 105000
	1920	Brown on white	none	12345 123456	30000 to approximately 135000	Numbers below 30000 reserved for motorcycles and trucks.
	1921	White on green	none	12345 123456	30000 to approximately 154000	Numbers below 30000 reserved for motorcycles and trucks.
150px	1922	White on dark blue	none	12345 123456	30000 to approximately 150000	Numbers below 30000 reserved for motorcycles and trucks.
	1923	Black on silver	none	12-345 123-456	30-000 to approximately 153-000	Numbers below 30-000 reserved for motorcycles and trucks.
	1924	Silver on black	none	12-345 123-456	20-000 to approximately 151-000	Numbers below 20-000 reserved for motorcycles and trucks.
150px	1930	Black lettering and border embossed on yellow base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1933	Black lettering and border embossed on yellow base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1935	Black lettering and border embossed on yellow base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1937	Red lettering and border embossed on white base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1941	Golden yellow lettering embossed on black base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1942	Black lettering embossed on golden yellow base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1949	Blue lettering and border embossed on unpainted aluminum "waffle" base	none	12-3456	unknown
150px	1950	Black on orange	none	12-345 1-2345 12-A34 12-3A4	unknown
150px	1951	Orange lettering and rims on black base	none	12-345 1-2345 12-A34 12-3A4	unknown
150px	1957	Black lettering and border on white base with Mount Rushmore decal at top.	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1960	Black on tan with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1961	Green on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1962	Black on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1963	Red on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1964	Dark blue on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1965	Green on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1966	Dark blue on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1967	Red on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1968	Light blue on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1969	Orange on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1970	Dark blue on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1971	Dark green on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1972	Black on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1973	Red on white with stamped Mount Rushmore graphic at top	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1974	Blue on white with screened red and black Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)	First screened graphic license plate in the United States. Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1974 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first time South Dakota was so honored.
150px	1975	Red on white with screened light blue and black Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0-12345 00-1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
	1976	Embossed blue on white with screened blue and white Mount Rushmore graphic and three red stripes at top	none	AB:1234	Coded by county of issuance (AB)
	1981	Embossed red on white with screened dark blue Mount Rushmore graphic in bottom right corner	none	ABC:123	AAA:001 to approximately KAS:888	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 1981 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the second time South Dakota was so honored.
150px	1987	Embossed red on white with screened blue Mount Rushmore graphic in bottom right corner	Celebrate the Century (optional)	0AB 123 00A 123	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)	Numeric county codes reintroduced.
150px	1990	Embossed green on gradient gold and white with Mount Rushmore graphic in top right corner	Great Faces. Great Places.	0A 1234 00 A123 00 AB12 (following exhaustion of above format)	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	1996	Embossed green on white with large gold Mount Rushmore graphic in background	Great Faces. Great Places.	0A12345 00A1234	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	2000	Embossed blue on red, white and blue with blue Mount Rushmore graphic at bottom	none	0AB 123 00A 123 00A B12 (following exhaustion of above format)	Coded by county of issuance (0 or 00)
150px	late 2003	As above, but with numbers screened
	2006	Screened dark blue on full-color Mount Rushmore graphic	Great Faces. Great Places.	Coded by county of issuance: 0AB 123 0ABC 12 (following exhaustion of above format) 00A 123 00A B23 (following exhaustion of above format) 00A BC3 (following exhaustion of above format)	Serial progression continued from where 2000 base ceased.	Awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new license plate of 2006 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the third time South Dakota was so honored.

Non-passenger types

2006 to present

Image	Type	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Notes
	City Government	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	CTY1234
	County Government	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	CO 1234 CO12345
	Fire Department	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	FD 1234
	School	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	S 1234
	Oglala Sioux Tribe government	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	OST 123 OST1234
	State Government	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	none	AB123	State seal at left, state flag bottom right corner.

Optional types

Image	Type	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Notes
	Veteran	Modified blue Mount Rushmore base.	VETERAN	1234A	Logo for branch of service at left.

County coding

Code	County
1	Minnehaha
2	Pennington
3	Brown
4	Beadle
5	Codington
6	Brookings
7	Yankton
8	Davison
9	Lawrence
10	Aurora
11	Bennett
12	Bon Homme
13	Brule
14	Buffalo
15	Butte
16	Campbell
17	Charles Mix
18	Clark
19	Clay
20	Corson
21	Custer
22	Day
23	Deuel
24	Dewey
25	Douglas
26	Edmunds
27	Fall River
28	Faulk
29	Grant
30	Gregory
31	Haakon
32	Hamlin
33	Hand
34	Hanson
35	Harding
36	Hughes
37	Hutchinson
38	Hyde
39	Jackson
40	Jerauld
41	Jones
42	Kingsbury
43	Lake
44	Lincoln
45	Lyman
46	McCook
47	McPherson
48	Marshall
49	Meade
50	Mellette
51	Miner
52	Moody
53	Perkins
54	Potter
55	Roberts
56	Sanborn
57	Spink
58	Stanley
59	Sully
60	Tripp
61	Turner
62	Union
63	Walworth
64	Ziebach
65	Shannon
66	Washabaugh
67	Todd

External links

• South Dakota license plates 1969-present