Colorado Military License Plates: Eligibility, Types, and How to Apply

Colorado military license plates are available to veterans, active-duty and reserve service members, Gold Star family members, and in some cases civilian supporters, under Colorado Revised Statutes 42-3-213. The state issues more than 40 designs covering every major service branch, dozens of decorations, and several specific conflicts. Most carry a one-time $50 issuance fee on top of regular registration costs, and a handful of high-valor and Gold Star plates waive that fee entirely for the first set.¹

Who Qualifies

Eligibility is broader than most applicants expect. The statute authorizes plates for honorably discharged or retired veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, and Special Forces, along with active-duty and reserve members of those branches. Recipients of specific decorations also qualify, including the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, and Navy Cross. Former prisoners of war and Pearl Harbor survivors have their own plates as well.¹

Family members have a path too. A current or past spouse, child, sibling, grandparent, or parent of a service member who died in the line of duty can apply for a Gold Star family plate.¹

A few plates don’t require any service connection. Civilian supporters can get plates for NORAD, the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division, the Civil Air Patrol, and the USS Colorado (SSN 788).¹

What Plates Are Available

Designs exist for all six service branches, plus specialty unit plates for the 10th Mountain Division, Navy SEALs, Navy submarine crews, and Special Forces.² Separate plates recognize women veterans and disabled women veterans.¹

Decoration plates include dedicated designs for the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, and other valor awards. Conflict plates are available to veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm.²

Fees and Exemptions

Most Colorado military plates cost a one-time $50 issuance fee on top of your regular registration taxes and fees. That applies to the branch plates, conflict plates, and most unit and support plates.³

Several plate types waive that fee, and some go further by exempting registration fees and ownership taxes for the first set:

Medal of Honor: first set exempt from issuance fees, registration fees, and ownership taxes.²
Purple Heart: first set exempt from issuance fees, registration fees, and ownership taxes.³
Pearl Harbor Survivor: first set exempt from the issuance fee.³
Distinguished Service Cross and Navy Cross: first set exempt from issuance fees.³
Disabled Veteran Handicapped: first set exempt from issuance and material fees.³
Gold Star family plates (Fallen Army, Fallen Marine, and the related designs): first set not charged the issuance fee.³

If you qualify for an exempt plate and want a second set for another vehicle, the second set costs the standard $50 plus the usual taxes and fees. Sales and use tax is never exempt, even on plates that waive everything else.²

How to Apply

The application is Form DR 2002, Colorado’s Military License Plate Application. Complete it and bring it, along with your supporting documents, to any county motor vehicle office.³

Documentation depends on the plate. Most service branch plates require a copy of your DD214 showing honorable discharge, or a current military ID for active-duty and reserve members. Decoration plates require a DD214 or military orders specifically showing the award: a Bronze Star plate, for example, requires a DD214 or orders confirming the Bronze Star was awarded.³ Gold Star family plates require documentation proving the applicant’s relationship to the fallen service member.

Every section of the form must be filled in. The DMV returns incomplete applications, which delays the process. One detail to plan around: military plates are produced on a print-on-demand basis, so you won’t walk out of the county office with plates in hand. Once your application clears and the taxes and fees are paid, the plates are mailed to the address on your motor vehicle record.² Confirm that address is current before you apply.

Vehicles That Qualify

Not every vehicle can carry a military plate. Under the statute, the plate can be placed only on a passenger car, a truck with an empty weight of 16,000 pounds or less, a motorcycle, or a noncommercial or recreational vehicle.¹ Heavy commercial trucks and vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan are not eligible.

Disabled Veteran Plates and Parking

Colorado issues two different disabled veteran plates with similar names and very different privileges, and the distinction is where applicants most often go wrong.

The Disabled Veteran plate is available to any veteran with a 50% or greater service-connected disability rating. It does not grant disability parking privileges. The Colorado DMV states that this plate “does not permit the owner to park his/her vehicle or a vehicle in which they are a passenger in designated disability parking spaces.”³

The Disabled Veteran Handicapped plate requires both a 50% or greater service-connected disability rating and a physical impairment affecting mobility, verified in writing by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or podiatrist in Colorado or a bordering state. This plate does carry disability parking privileges.³

To get the Handicapped version, submit a completed Application for Persons with Disabilities Parking Privileges (Form DR 2219) along with your military plate application. The medical certification is what unlocks reserved parking access. A VA disability rating by itself does not.

1
Justia. Colorado Code 42-3-213 – License Plates
2
Colorado Department of Revenue. Colorado Military License Plate Application
3
Colorado Department of Revenue – Motor Vehicle. License Plates – Military