# Washington license plate: Standard

> The Washington standard license plate: format LLL9999, for example BRT4628, documented since 2026, car, van, truck, and bus.

Page: https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--washington/standard · 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 [Washington license plates](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--washington) (5 registration series).

![Washington (United States) license plate, Standard (documented since 2026)](https://vehiclesdb.com/plates/us-wa/us-wa-standard/washington-license-plate-standard.svg)

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | `LLL9999` (L is any letter, 9 any digit) |
| Years | ~2026 → today (documented from 2026; the format is likely older) |
| Class | standard |
| Issued for | car, van, truck, bus |
| Plate size | 12 × 6 in |
| Colours | background #FFFFFF |
| Rear plate differs from the front | no |
| 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-wa-standard` (https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--washington/standard) |

Sources:

- [(1)(a)-(f) design delegation, state-name requirement, reflectorization, artwork approval; (2) the pre-1968 reflectorization carve-out; (4)(a) plate counts; (8) transfer and its seven exceptions; (9) the event-triggered replacement duty; (10) the three never-replaced classes; (12) tabs and emblems](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16A.200)
- [DOL's own plate estate: the standard/custom/replacement service structure and the plate imagery the observed colours are taken from](https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/license-plates)
- [AAMVA Ed.3 §1.1, the 7-10 year recommendation Washington declined to legislate](https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/646bcc8a-219b-47d8-b5cd-726240473163/License-Plate-Standard-Edition-3_September-2025-Update.pdf)
- [None is asserted as sourced here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Washington_%28state%29)

## About this plate

WASHINGTON STANDARD ISSUE. THE STRUCTURAL FINDING WORTH CARRYING: Washington delegates the whole design to the director by statute, so unlike Florida, Montana and Wyoming there is no statutory design text to mine, the primary-source ceiling for Washington plate DESIGN facts is a departmental rule that does not appear to exist.

## How numbers are issued

No DOL publication of serial ranges was located. Recorded so a future pass knows what to verify, not as a claim.

## Replacement

clock: none. statutory text: RCW 46.16A.200(9)(a): an owner "must apply for a replacement license plate or plates: (i) When taking ownership of the vehicle; (ii) if the current license plate or plates assigned to the vehicle have been lost, defaced, or destroyed; or (iii) if one or both plates have become so illegible or are in such a condition as to be difficult to distinguish.". transfer rule: RCW 46.16A.200(8)(a): 'Standard issue license plates must be replaced when ownership of the vehicle changes ... but the registered owner may retain the license plates and transfer them to a replacement vehicle of the same use.' Florida legislated ten years, the top of AAMVA's recommended 7-10 band. Washington legislated NO PERIOD WHATSOEVER: replacement is triggered by an EVENT (sale, loss, illegibility), never by a clock, and three plate classes are exempt even from that.

## Other standard plates here

- [Standard numeric first](https://vehiclesdb.com/license-plates/united-states--washington/standard-numeric-first) (1987 to 2010)

## Use it

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