Maine Vanity Plate Rules: Characters, Costs, and Rejections

Maine’s vanity plate rules let you put up to seven characters on a standard passenger plate (fewer on most specialty designs), using any combination of letters A–Z, digits 0–9, a dash, a single space, or an ampersand, as long as the result isn’t already taken, isn’t profane or derogatory, and doesn’t disguise a prohibited word through slang, abbreviation, or a mirror image. You order through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for $25 a year on top of your regular registration.

How Many Characters You Get

The character limit depends on which plate you’re customizing, and the fine print matters. Some plate types let you add a dash or space on top of your character allowance. Others count the dash or space against it.

Standard passenger plates: up to 7 characters, plus a dash or space.
Agriculture, Black Bear, Breast Cancer, Lobster, Sportsman, Support Our Troops, and several other specialty designs: up to 6 characters, plus a dash or space.
Special Veterans plates: up to 6 characters, dash or space included in the count.
Firefighter plates: up to 5 characters, plus a dash or space.
Conservation, Disability, Disabled Veterans, Purple Heart, and University of Maine plates: up to 5 characters, dash or space included.
Special Veterans Disability plates: up to 4 characters, dash or space included.

Read “plus” versus “includes” carefully when you’re sketching combinations.¹

What Characters and Combinations Are Allowed

You can use any letter A through Z and any digit 0 through 9. Maine also allows a dash (-), a single blank space, and an ampersand (&). The ampersand only works on plates with two to six characters, because the symbol is too wide to fit on a seven-character plate.²

Placement rules catch a lot of first-time applicants. If you use all seven slots on a standard plate, letters and numbers can go in any order, but at least one character must be a letter. If your combination is shorter than seven characters, the first character must be a letter. And you can’t start a plate with a zero or with the letter “O” followed only by numbers, because that pattern looks too much like a standard-issue plate.¹

What the BMV Will Reject

Under 29-A M.R.S. §453, the Secretary of State can refuse or recall any vanity plate that:

Falsely suggests a connection to a government agency or public institution.
Duplicates a plate someone else already has.
Encourages violence or unlawful activity.
Is profane or obscene.
Is derogatory toward a protected class, including references to age, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, religion, or physical or mental disability.
Connotes genitalia or relates to sexual acts.
Uses slang, abbreviations, phonetic spellings, or mirror images of any word that would otherwise be prohibited.

That last category is the catch-all. Leetspeak and reversed letters don’t get around the rule: if the BMV can read it and it maps to a prohibited term, it’s denied.³

The statute does not list drug references as a standalone prohibited category. A drug-related combination can still be rejected if it falls under the violence, unlawful activity, or obscenity provisions, or if it maps to a prohibited term through slang.³

What It Costs

The vanity plate fee is $25, and it’s annual. You pay it again at every re-registration for as long as you keep the plate, on top of your regular registration fee.²

If you’re customizing a specialty plate instead of a standard passenger plate, add the $20 specialty plate fee. A vanity Sportsman plate, for example, runs $20 for the specialty plus $25 for the vanity, plus your regular registration.⁴

How to Order

You need a current vehicle registration before you apply. You can’t reserve a combination for a vehicle you haven’t registered.

Three ways to submit:

Online, through the BMV’s Vanity Plate Search & Order portal at maine.gov/vanity. You can check availability instantly and order in one session with a credit or debit card (Visa, MasterCard, or Discover), an email address, and a printer.⁵
By mail, using Form MV-45, sent with a copy of your current registration and payment to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Augusta, attention Vanity Plate Clerk.
In person at any BMV branch office with the completed form, your registration, and payment.⁶

The paper form gives you space for three choices ranked by preference. Use all three. If your first pick is taken or rejected, the BMV moves to the next one without making you reapply.⁷

If you order online, approval comes by email from VANITY.PLATE@MAINE.GOV.²

How Long It Takes

The BMV’s online service page tells you to allow at least 10 to 12 weeks for processing after you submit your order.⁵ The FAQ cites a four-to-six-week window after approval for the metal plates and stickers to arrive.² The gap between the two figures reflects review time before manufacturing starts. Plan for the longer estimate, especially if you’re trying to time it to a registration renewal.

If Your Plate Is Denied or Recalled

You can appeal a refusal or a recall, and the window is short. You have 14 days from the initial decision to file. The appeal goes to the vehicle services division of the BMV and runs as a formal hearing, with notice requirements, evidentiary standards, and public participation rules.³

This is an adjudicatory proceeding, not a request for reconsideration. The same 14-day deadline applies whether you’ve been denied up front or had a plate pulled after you’ve been displaying it.

Replacing a Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Vanity Plate

If your plate is lost, stolen, damaged, or removed by law enforcement, file Form MV-9 (Notice of Loss of Number Plates and Request for New Plates) with the BMV. Replacement plates cost $5 each, or $5.50 if you also need new validation stickers. Mail the completed form to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Attn: Lost Plate Clerk, 29 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0029.⁸ If the plate was stolen, file a police report first and keep a copy for your own records in case someone else drives around with your number.

1
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Vanity Plate Information and Instructions
2
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Maine Vanity Plate FAQ
3
Maine Legislature. Maine Code 29-A 453 – Vanity Registration Plates
4
Maine Secretary of State. Sportsman Specialty Plate
5
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Vanity Plate Search and Order Online Service
6
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Vanity Plate Application
7
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Vanity Plate Application
8
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Notice of Loss of Number Plates and Request for New Plates