Iowa license plate: Specialty index
Issued today Documented since 2026. Specialty plates for car, van, truck, and motorcycle, issued by Iowa Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division (plates issued through the county treasurers). One of 6 Iowa license plates.
Format, years and the law
- Format
-
LLL99, for exampleOHB81(L is any letter, 9 any digit)The format above is broad: a registration that fits it has the right shape, which does not show that this series issued it.
- Years issued
- Documented since 2026; the format is likely older than the first year documented. Still issued.
- Vehicle class
- Specialty: optional-design programs on standard serials (US state programs). Issued for car, van, truck, and motorcycle.
- About this plate
- Iowa counts cleanly from the statute the way North Dakota does, and carries the same honest caveat in sharper form: the open-ended § 321.34(13) decal program means the DESIGN count is unbounded from the Code alone, while several counted subsections are not designs at all. 761-401.3(2)), and a redesign cannot be charged to existing holders (§ 321.166(10)).
Legal basis and sources
- Iowa Code § 321.34: the thirty numbered plate-authorising subsections counted above, including (11C) blackout and (13) the nonprofit organization decal program; (3) radio operator call-letter plates; (5) personalized... https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/321.34.pdf
- Iowa Code § 321.166(9): the design-and-colour consistency rule, the emblem/decal space requirement and the seven-type exemption list; (10) no issuance fee on a special-plate redesign; (2) the county-name exemptions... https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/321.166.pdf
- Iowa Admin. Code 761 ch. 401: r. 401.3 the two-character floor and five-character emblem-plate ceiling; r. 401.4 the nonprofit decal approval process, Form 411346, the 60-day decision and revocation; r. 401.5... https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/761.401.pdf
This plate in your app
The series id is us-ia-specialty-index. The API returns its format, validation, colours and designs with the rest of Iowa's series:
curl -s https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/us-ia \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VEHICLESDB_API_KEY" \ | jq '.series[] | select(.id == "us-ia-specialty-index")'
- Plate image (SVG, sample serial): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ia/us-ia-specialty-index.svg
- Blank template, filled on your side: https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ia/us-ia-specialty-index/template.svg
