Florida Specialty License Plates: Types, Costs, and How to Apply

Florida offers more than 100 specialty license plates, and you can buy one at any tax collector’s office, state motor vehicle service center, or license plate agency when your registration is valid. Most Florida specialty license plates add an annual use fee of $15 to $25 to your standard registration, plus a $5 processing fee, with the cause-specific portion going straight to the sponsoring organization.¹

What Plates Are Available

The catalog runs long, but the designs fall into a handful of familiar groupings.

Environmental and wildlife plates, including Save the Manatee, Conserve Wildlife, Protect Wild Dolphins, and Protect Florida Whales. Proceeds from Protect Wild Dolphins go to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation; Conserve Wildlife funds the Wildlife Foundation of Florida.²
Collegiate plates for schools including the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Miami, funding scholarships and campus programs.
Military and veterans plates: Support Our Troops, branch-specific plates for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard, and recognition plates such as Purple Heart, Gold Star Family, and Medal of Honor.
Health and charitable plates. The End Breast Cancer plate sends $25 per plate each year to the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation. Moffitt Cancer Center has its own plate as well.
Sports team plates, including the Miami Dolphins, Orlando Magic, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Golf Capital of the World.
Special interest and fraternal plates such as Choose Life, Florida Sheriffs Association, and Divine Nine.

What You’ll Pay

Every specialty plate costs more than a standard Florida tag, and the extra charges are annual.

The annual use fee, $15 to $25 depending on the plate. This is the cause-specific portion, and it goes in full to the sponsoring organization.²
A $5 processing fee each year, which is deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund rather than paid to the sponsoring organization.
A one-time initial issuance fee when you first receive the physical plate.

One plate falls well outside that range. Licensed amateur radio operators pay only $5 up front and $1.50 annually beyond their standard vehicle registration tax.³

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles distributes the annual use fees to sponsoring organizations, typically on a weekly basis.⁴ Those funds count as state financial assistance under the Florida Single Audit Act, so organizations must account for how they spend the money, and the department can withhold future payments if funds are used for anything the law doesn’t authorize.⁵

How to Apply

You can pick up a specialty plate at any authorized motor vehicle office, including state service centers, tax collector offices, and license plate tag agencies. Your vehicle registration must be valid at the time of purchase. Most drivers add or switch to a specialty plate during their annual renewal so both transactions happen at once.¹

Renewal follows the usual schedule. Each year you pay your standard renewal charges plus the specialty plate’s annual use fee and the $5 processing fee. You can renew online, by mail, or in person.

Personalizing the Plate

Most specialty plates can also carry a personal message. The character limit depends on the design.

Center-design plates allow up to 7 alphanumeric characters, or 8 total if you include spaces or hyphens.
Left-design plates allow up to 5 characters, including any spaces or hyphens.

Personalization costs an additional $15 per year on top of the specialty plate fees. You’ll fill out the Application for Personalized License Plate (HSMV form 83043) at a local office. The department reviews requested messages and can reject anything deemed offensive or misleading.⁶

Buying a Plate as a Gift

Florida runs a gift certificate program for specialty plates. You pay the annual use fee at any authorized motor vehicle office, and the department issues a credit in the recipient’s name. The recipient then visits an office to claim the plate, bringing a valid Florida driver’s license or ID card; no physical certificate is required, and the two offices don’t have to match.¹

Gift certificate purchases are nonrefundable. Once you pay the fee, the money goes directly to the sponsoring organization, and the department cannot refund it if the recipient never redeems the certificate.

Transferring, Replacing, or Surrendering a Plate

Moving a Plate to a New Vehicle

You can transfer a specialty plate to a replacement vehicle for a $4.10 fee. If you’re moving the plate to or from something other than a standard passenger car or light truck under 5,000 pounds, an additional $4.50 transfer fee applies.⁷

Replacing a Lost or Stolen Plate

Complete HSMV form 83146 and bring it to your local tax collector’s office. If the plate was stolen, include a copy of the law enforcement report with the case number. Replacement fees vary, and stolen plates reported with a police case number can typically be replaced at no cost.

Surrendering a Plate

Surrender the plate before you cancel your insurance. Turn it in at a driver license office, motor vehicle service center, or tax collector’s office. If you cancel insurance while a plate is still registered to you, Florida can suspend your driver’s license and registration for up to three years, with no hardship or temporary licenses available for insurance-related suspensions, and reinstatement fees can run up to $500.⁸

Free Plate for Disabled Veterans

Veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability rating receive one free plate along with free initial validation stickers. To qualify, you must have been honorably discharged, be a Florida resident for the preceding five years or have established domicile under Florida law, and provide documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs showing your disability rating.⁹ Veterans who want a “Veteran” designation added to a regular driver’s license can do so by presenting a DD-214 showing honorable discharge at any local service center.¹⁰ Other military plates carry the standard specialty plate fees.

Display Rules and Penalties

Florida law requires the plate to be mounted securely on the outside of the vehicle, no higher than 60 inches and no lower than 12 inches from the ground, and within 24 inches of the vehicle’s centerline. Every letter, number, and the registration decal must be legible from 100 feet away. Covers, frames, and coatings that obscure any part of the plate are prohibited, and nothing can be placed on the face of a Florida plate unless the law specifically allows it.¹¹

Wrapping, tinting, or otherwise altering a plate is a moving violation that carries a $60 state fine and three points on your license, plus any additional county fee where you’re cited. Troopers can also seize an altered plate on the spot, which means paying for a replacement before you can drive legally again. Using a plate on a vehicle it wasn’t assigned to can bring additional penalties, up to revocation of the plate itself.¹²

1
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Personalized and Specialty License Plates
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title XXIII Chapter 320 Section 320.08058 – Specialty License Plates
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title XXIII Chapter 320 Section 320.083 – Amateur Radio Operators Special License Plates Fees
4
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Specialty License Plate and Voluntary Contribution Organizations Procedures and Requirements Training Aid
5
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Specialty License Plate and Voluntary Contribution Financial Oversight and Reports
6
Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. RS-27 Personalized License Plates
7
Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. License Plate Rate Chart
8
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida Insurance Requirements
9
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Title XXIII Chapter 320 Section 320.084 – Free Motor Vehicle License Plate to Certain Disabled Veterans
10
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Military and Veterans Information
11
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Title XXIII Chapter 316 Section 316.605
12
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida Highway Patrol Warns Public of Strict Enforcement of Illegally Wrapped License Plates