# California license plate: Specialty index

> The California specialty index license plate: format 999LLL9, for example 274WNH1, documented since 2026, car, van, truck, motorcycle, and trailer.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--california/specialty-index · Markdown version of the HTML page, which is canonical. Site map: https://vehiclesdb.com/llms.txt · Terms of use: https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/terms

Part of [California license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--california) (14 registration series).

![California (United States) license plate, Specialty index (documented since 2026)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ca/us-ca-specialty-index/california-license-plate-specialty-index.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `999LLL9` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | ~2026 → today (documented from 2026; the format is likely older) |
| Class | specialty |
| Issued for | car, van, truck, motorcycle, trailer |
| Plate size | 12 × 6 in |
| Checking a registration | The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued. |
| Series id | `us-ca-specialty-index` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--california/specialty-index) |

Sources:

- [the DMV's own three-way grouping of special interest, special, and special recognition/occupational/legislative/apportioned plates — the 15+15+17 enumeration above](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/license-plates-decals-and-placards/license-plates/special-interest-special-license-plates/)
- [§ 5060: the 501(c)(3) sponsor requirement, the 7,500-application threshold and its 12/24-month window, the 2x3 in design space and 5/8 in message strip for passenger plates, the five-character motorcycle rule, and the below-7,500 discontinuation duty](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=5060)
- [VIRPM Chapter 21: 56 sub-sections, the deeper official index](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2/special-plates/)

## About this plate

Two things to carry forward. Second, the absence of a California issuance-volume report is itself a finding: Florida's monthly active-plate portal has no California counterpart, so the differentiator identified in the L0 pass does not generalise and must be re-checked state by state.

## Other specialty plates here

- [Legacy 1960s](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--california/legacy-1960s) (documented since 2015)

## Use it

- Plate image (SVG): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ca/us-ca-specialty-index.svg
- Make it with your own text: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plate-generator/california?series=us-ca-specialty-index
- API: `GET https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/us-ca` returns this series as the entry with `"id": "us-ca-specialty-index"` (https://vehiclesdb.com/api)

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Open data, CC BY 4.0: reuse it with a visible credit to VehiclesDB and a link (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/attribution). Plate images show sample serials and are not open data (https://vehiclesdb.com/legal/image-license). Dataset commit db0ec0a: https://github.com/vehiclesdb/vehiclesdb