Montana looks back for new license plates

HELENA – Montana is redesigning its basic license plate design for the first time in five years and is looking at a retro-inspired design that harkens back to the plates of the 1970s and earlier.

The plate will feature a simple, solid background of either blue or green – a committee is still deciding the color.

Gone are the mountain ridges along the bottom, and a sky featuring blue-green hues. Also gone from the old plate is the well-known “Big Sky Country” moniker, which was placed under an ornate “Montana,” elaborately written in an old West style.

The new plate will revert to the older slogan “Treasure State,” that was common on plates through the 1950s.

By law, the state outline appears on the plate. This time it will be a simple white outline on the solid-color background. The bison skull still is on the plate, separating the county number from the plate number.

“MONTANA” will be spelled out in plain, white capital letters along the bottom. It will be followed by “10” to denote the 2010 year of issue. Montana plates came stamped with a year of issue through about the 1980s.

The Motor Vehicle Division Committee – which meets again in the next few weeks to make a final pick – is looking at three shades of green, and two shades of blue.

Montana is known for a wide assortment of colorful specialty plates – 105 total plus special college and university plates. The committee decided the base plate should look to the days of simplicity in design.

The state outline dates back to the plate of 1933 and is now a legal requirement.