# Massachusetts license plate: Standard green

> The Massachusetts standard green license plate: format 999 LLL, for example 141 PBR, 1977 to 1993, car and van.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/standard-green-1977 · 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 [Massachusetts license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts) (6 registration series).

![Massachusetts (United States) license plate, Standard green (1977 to 1993)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ma/us-ma-standard-green-1977/massachusetts-license-plate-standard-green.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `999 LLL` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | 1977–1993 |
| Class | standard |
| Issued for | car, van |
| Plate size | 12 × 6 in |
| Colours | background #FFFFFF; characters #00693E |
| Rear plate differs from the front | yes |
| 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-ma-standard-green-1977` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/standard-green-1977) |

Sources:

- [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Massachusetts)
- [§6's display duty is what makes an unreplaced 1977 plate still lawful: the statute requires display of the plates furnished by the registrar, and sets no expiry on a base](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section6)

## About this plate

THE PREVIOUS BASE, AND IT IS STILL BEING DRIVEN. Massachusetts sets no replacement cycle, so green-on-white plates issued as early as 1977 remain lawfully displayed, and registrants reportedly decline free replacement as a point of pride. The practical limit is legibility, not age: an illegible plate fails the annual safety inspection regardless of colour or vintage, which is the real reason old Massachusetts plates leave the road.

## Before and after

| Relation | Series | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Replaced by | [Standard spirit](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/standard-spirit) | 1993 to today |

## Other standard plates here

- [Apportioned](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/apportioned) (2021 to today)
- [Commercial](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/commercial) (2019 to today)
- [Standard spirit](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--massachusetts/standard-spirit) (1993 to today)

## Use it

- Plate image (SVG): https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-ma/us-ma-standard-green-1977.svg
- Make it with your own text: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plate-generator/massachusetts?series=us-ma-standard-green-1977
- API: `GET https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/us-ma` returns this series as the entry with `"id": "us-ma-standard-green-1977"` (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
