The U.S. state of Alabama first required its residents to register their motor vehicles and display license plates in 1911.
, plates are issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Only rear plates have been required on standard passenger vehicles since 1963.
History Some Alabama municipalities issued their own license plates for horse-drawn vehicles as well as automobiles prior to 1911. The earliest known plate is a bronze plate, "No. 1", issued by the city of Bessemer on a two-horse wagon in 1901, while the earliest known plate for an automobile is a 1906 dash plateHarris, Len (June 2007) "Heart of Plates: Alabama". Plates. The Magazine of ALPCA. Vol. 53, No. 3 issued by the city of Birmingham, originally assigned to a 1904 6-cylinder Ford. Between 1909 and 1911, Birmingham and Mobile issued annual plates made of porcelain-coated steel, while Montgomery, the state capital, issued a similar plate only in 1909. Dothan also issued a porcelain plate in 1911.
The state first issued annual license plates on October 1, 1911, with plate #1 being issued to the Leak Funeral Home in Montgomery. Until 1980, the license year was October 1 to September 30. Porcelain plates were originally used, before the state switched to embossed metal plates in 1915. The 1916–17 plate was the first to feature the year of expiration, while the 1921–22 plate was the first to use a horsepower class system, with each class denoted by a letter. Kilby Prison near Montgomery took charge of all plate manufacture in 1928.
In 1933, the horsepower classes were replaced by weight classes, using the same letter system; these lasted until 1952."A preview of 1953 state tag" (July 1952) Birmingham News via Birmingham Rewound County coding was introduced in 1941.
A 1951 law added a heart shape and the phrase "Heart of Dixie" to the state's license plates (beginning with the 1954–55 plate), adopting a slogan created by the Alabama Chamber of Commerce. The heart motif and slogan remain in use on all standard-issue plates today.
In 1956, the United States, Canada, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Alabama license plate that complied with these standards.
Since 1980, Alabama has used a staggered registration system based on the first letter of the registrant's last name. Registrations expire January through November, with fleet, leased, and commercial vehicles expiring in November.
Passenger baseplates 1911 to 1976