HAWAII PLATE TYPES - SUMMARY CHRONOLOGICALLY BY INTRODUCTION DATE
(Types researched through 1980)
PLATE TYPE EARLIEST SEEN BEGAN NOTES
Passenger 1922 1922 Act 198 P 4/26/1921
Motorcycle 1926 1922 Act 198 P 4/26/1921
Territory Owned 1922 1922 Act 198 P 4/26/1921
City/County Owned 1931 1922
Dealer 1926 1922
Replacement/Blank 1937 1922
Replacement/Blank M/C 1948 1922
Sample 1926
Wagon 1939 Listed 1926
City/County Owned M/C 1957/60 Listed 1927
Territory Owned M/C 1957/60 Listed 1927
Newcomer 1931
M/C Dealer 1958 Listed 1933
Federal Housing Admin. 1935
Truck 1938 1938
Trailer 1939 Reported 1938
Territory Owned Trailer 1949 Listed 1947
Fire Department 1952 Listed 1950
City/County Owned Trailer 1954
Freight M/C 1954
Amateur Radio 1955 1955 Act 67 P 5/5/1955
State Owned 1957/60 1959? Statehood 8/21/1959
State Owned M/C 1957/60 1959? Statehood 8/21/1959
State Owned Trailer 1957/60 1959? Statehood 8/21/1959
U.S. Congressman/Senator 1961/68 1961? Act 11 P 5/8/1961
Chief Justice Reported 1961/68
Horseless Carriage 1968 1968 Ch. 137 P 5/29/1967
Waikiki Mayor 1961/68
Personalized 1970 1970 Act 121 P 6/24/1969
Consular Corps 1969/75 Act 189 P 6/8/1971
Personalized M/C Reported in 1978
Board of Water Supply(BWS) Reported 1976/80
LETTER KEY: (All other letters/years are Passenger)
C&C, C of H, C of K, C of M City/County Owned 1931-80
D Dealer 1926-80
F Freight Motorcycle 1954-80
FHA Federal Housing Administration 1935-40
HFD, KFD, MFD Fire Department 1950-80
MAL Newcomer 1931-36
TH Territory Owned 1922-59
PLATES ORDERED - HONOLULU:
Pairs all types but Blank, all M/C types, Sample, Trailer, Wagon.
C&C BLANK M/C
PASS. M/C BLANK SAMPLE TH C&C M/C DEALER M/C DEALER
1922 7,500 350
1923 10,711TOT. 500
1924 13,711TOT. 500 100
1925 17,500 500 100
1926 20,500 500 250 50 199 200 468
1927 22,000 500 250 65 199 200 468
1928 24,000 500 250 65 199 200 60 520
1929 28,000 500 250 65 299 200 60 520
1930 31,000 500 300 65 299 200 60 572
1931 33,000 500 300 65 299 200 60 572
1932 34,000 500 300 65 299 200 60 572
1933 34,000 500 300 70 299 200 60 572 50 52
1934
1935
1936 35,000 500 300 70 400 300 10 572 50 20
1937
1938
1939 40,000 650 400 300 10 572 20
1940 42,000 800 150 100 500 300 10 286 50 20
1941 44,500 2,000 15
1942 52,200 2,200 25
1946
1947 60,000 1,999 900 700 50 300 20
1948 70,000
TRUCK TRAILER WAGON TH TLR.
1939 7,200 1,000 200
1940 7,700 1,000 200
1941 7,200 100
1942 7,800
1946
1947 14,000 1,500 100 75
1948
PLATES ORDERED - HAWAII:
Pairs all types except Blank (1932-33), Dealer (1926-29), M/C types, Wagon.
BLANK C&C
PASS. BLANK M/C M/C C OF H M/C DEALER WAGON
1922 3,500 25 50 10
1923 3,000 100 20 10 70
1924 3,500 25 20 5 0
1925 4,200 25 25 5 70
1926 4,701 50 25 5 75 60 600
1927 5,301 50 25 5 85 75 700
1928 6,101 50 20 5 85 15 100 700
1929 6,701 75 20 5 85 15 100 700
1930 7,001
1931 7,001
1932 7,501 150 25 5 85 15 75
1933 7,501 150 25 5 85 15 75
1934
1935 7,701 75 100 100 700
1950 Pass. 12,500
Truck 5,000
M/C 500
Dealer 100
County 300
Fire Dept. 25 P
Trailer 700
M/C Dealer 10
Blank 350
PLATES ORDERED - MAUI:
1952 Pass. 13,000 P
M/C 310 S
Dealer 120 P
County 300 P
Fire Dept. 15 P
Trailer 1,050 S
Wagon 5 S
PLATES ORDERED - KAUAI:
1922 Pass. 2,500 P
M/C 75 S
DETAILED NOTES ALPHABETICALLY BY TYPE:
Passenger colors unless noted. Numbers began at 1 unless noted.
1943-45: Windshield stickers assumed issued for all types.
1953-56: Tabs assumed issued for all types except Dealer and
Motorcycle Dealer (annual plates).
1957-68: Windshield stickers assumed issued for all types except
Tabs - Motorcycle and types, Trailer and types, Wagon,
Annual plates - Dealer and Motorcycle Dealer.
Windshield stickers/tabs issued with bases in 1957 and 1961.
Plates ordered in [ ].
PASSENGER (See Passenger page)
AMATEUR RADIO
Act 67 P 5/5/1955, E immediately. Issued by 10/20/1955.
1955 KH6AA - KH6ZZ, KH6AOL (6" x 12", border)
1961-68 KH6AAA - KH6ZZZ
1969-75 Type 1 - Large Arkansas dies
Type 2 - Thin Arkansas dies
BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY
BWS prefix reported 1976/80. Issued only in Honolulu.
CHIEF JUSTICE
Reported 1961/68. As of 1966, still received State #3.
CITY/COUNTY OWNED (See Table 1)
Began 1922. Earliest seen 1931.
Issued to vehicles owned by the Counties of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai
and the City and County of Honolulu.
1922 suggested assignment: Honolulu 100 - 399, Hawaii 400 - 599,
Maui 600 - 799, Kauai 800 - 999. These blocks shifted higher
every few years; starting at 200 1923.
Hawaii Co. assigned 451 - 520 in 1923, and 451 - 535 in 1928;
forgot to order any plates in 1924, so 1923 plates continued in use.
Numbers 200 - 999 assigned 1927.
Hawaii Co. assigned 601 - 685 in 1929, 1932-33, 701 - 800 in 1935,
700 - 999 in 1950.
LEGENDS: No legend, "C&C", "C of H", "C of M" or "C of K" left all years,
"C&C" 1954 tab, "CofM" 1956 tab.
1937: C&C has "HONOLULU 1937" top.
1969-75: Wide dies C&C 2281 - C&C 2599, C&C 01 (Mayor), all C of H and C of M.
Thin dies C&C 1000 - C&C 2090, C&C 2901 - C&C 3043, all C of K.
1977: E suffix additionally reported in C of H.
CITY/COUNTY OWNED MOTORCYCLE (See Table 2)
Listed 1927, numbers 51 - 99 assigned. Shown on 1935 blueprint.
Earliest seen 1957/60. Issued to motorcycles owned by the Counties
of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu.
Hawaii Co. assigned 201 - 215 in 1929, 1932-33.
LEGENDS: No legend, "C&C", "C of H", "C of M" or "C of K" left all years,
"C&C" 1963 tab, "CC" 1964-67 tabs.
1976-80: Wide dies CC34 - CC194, thin dies c&c407 - c&c451.
CITY/COUNTY OWNED TRAILER (See Table 3)
Earliest seen 1954.
Issued to trailers owned by the Counties of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai,
and the City and County of Honolulu.
LEGENDS: Vertical "TRAILER" left followed by "C&C", "C of H", "C of M" or "C of K" all years,
"MCT" 1954 tab, "C&C" 1963 tab, "CC" 1964-67 tabs.
1954 TAB TRLR MCT- 45
CONSULAR CORPS
Act 189 P 6/8/1971, E immediately. Earliest seen 1969/75 base.
LEGENDS: "CONSULAR/CORPS" left all years.
1969-75 21 - 109 (89)
1976-80 215 - 336 (122)
DEALER
Began 1922. Earliest seen 1926. All have city or county name
instead of state name (1926-60) or in addition to state name
(1961-80) because usage limited to that island only.
1927: Hawaii Co. #D- A seen with a smaller stencilled "4" suffix.
1929: Hawaii Co. assigned #D-A-1 - D-A-20, also B, C, F, H.
1932-33: Hawaii Co. assigned #D-1-A - D-15-A, D-1-H - D-10-H,
D-1-K - D-10-K, D-1-R - D-10-R, D-1-S - D-15-S.
1939-40: Honolulu used all letters.
1949-80: Only "A" suffix seen.
1956: Honolulu is old size.
1961: Honolulu is White/Dark Green,
Kauai is White/Red #D-8-A - D-77-A, White/Dark Green #D-90-A.
1977: Blank white sticker covers up pre-screened "76" graphic.
DEALER HONOLULU HAWAII MAUI KAUAI
1922?
1923
1924
1925
1926 D-11 N -
1927
1928
1929
1930 D-2-A -
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937 D-979-G - D-982-E
1938 D-978-J - D-981-I
1939 [D-1-A - D-22-Z] D-2-N - D-9-N
1940 [D-1-A - D-11-Z]
1941
1942
1946
1947
1948
1949 D-44-A -
1950 [D-1-A - D-100-A]
1951 D 62 A - D 98A - D142A
1952 D-204A - D-214A D-52 A -
1953
1954 D- 17A -
1955 D- 95A -
1956 D- 58A -
1957
1958 D-377-A - D-445-A D-7-A -
1959 D-257-A - D-389-A D-38-A -
1960 D-51-A - D-487-A D-88-A -
1961 D-464-A - D-475-A D-1-A - D-90-A
1962 D-420-A - D-489-A D-5-A - D-7-A D-87-A -
1963 D-438-A - D-499-A D-3-A - D-100-A -
1964 D-44-A - D-53-A
1965 D-97-A - D-606-A D-73-A - D-79-A
1966 D-510-A - D-694-A D-17-A - D-100-A
1967 D-491-A - D-693-A D-77-A - D-100-A
1968 D-1-A - D-600-A D-55-A - D-71-A D-75-A - D-98-A
1969 D-894-A - D-72-A - D-85-A D-6-A - D-10-A
1970 D-216-A - D-556-A D-58-A - D-62-A
1971 D-58-A -
1972 D-17-A -
1973 D1213A - D1434A D-35-A - D-80-A -
1974 D1108A - D1200A D-91-A - D-100-A -
1975 D-176-A - D-566-A D-6-A - D-8-A - D-38-A D-47-A - D-74-A
1976 D1335A - D1486A D-2-A - D-32-A D-56-A - D-63-A
1977 D-1-A - D-95-A
1978 D-3424-A - D-8-A - D-31-A D-2-A -
1979 D 4572 A - D 4827 A D-30-A - D-93-A
1980 D 6468 A, D-7892-A - D-7995-A D-54-A - D-62-A
FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION
Earliest seen 1935 #F.H.A.-2. 1936 #F.H.A.-1 and 1940 #F.H.A.4
also seen. All are stencilled on Replacement/Blank plates.
1935-36 plates were issued to J. Stowell Wright, Acting
Administrator of the Hawaii office.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Listed 1950 in Hawaii Co. order, #HFD-1 - HFD-25 (25 P).
Earliest seen 1952. Both Honolulu and Hawaii used "HFD" prefix.
HONOLULU HAWAII MAUI KAUAI
1950 [HFD-25]
1951
1952 MFD 5
1953-56 HFD-000
1957-60 HFD 100
1961-68 MFD 29
1969-75 HFD 99 MFD 20
1976-80 HFD 94
FREIGHT MOTORCYCLE
Earliest seen 1954.
Issued only in Honolulu to commercial delivery motorcycles.
LEGENDS: "F" prefix 1953-68, "F" suffix 1976-80,
"FRT" 1954-63 tabs, "FT" 1964-68 tabs.
1953-56 F 430
1957-60 F 695
1961-68 F100 - F699 (600)
1969-75 [F300 - F349]
1976-80 5000F - 5664F (665)
HORSELESS CARRIAGE
Ch. 137 P 5/29/1967, E 1/1/1968. Earliest seen 1968.
Undated permanent plate issued for $10 fee to vehicles at least
35 years old. Vertical "PERMANENT" left followed by horizontal
"HORSELESS/CARRIAGE", Red/Yellow.
UND. Type 1 - 4 long slots 7 - 233 (227)
Type 2 - 3 short slots, 1 hole 260 - 348 (89)
Type 1a 356 - 550 (195)
MOTORCYCLE (See Motorcycle page)
Ch. 198 P 1921. Began 1922. Earliest seen 1926.
MOTORCYCLE DEALER
Listed 1933. Shown on 1935 blueprint. Earliest seen 1958.
All have city or county name instead of state name (1958-62) or in addition
to state name (1964-80) because usage limited to that island only.
1939-40: Honolulu used letters A-J only.
1958-80: Only "M" suffix seen, except Kauai "B".
1961-62: Honolulu are White/Red, old design, but 1961 #D22M is White/Dark Green.
M/C DEALER HONOLULU HAWAII MAUI KAUAI
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939 [D-1-A - D-2-J]
1940 [D-1-A - D-2-J]
1941
1942
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950 [D-M-1 - D-M-10]
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958 D-16-M - D-24-M
1959 D-19-M - D-28-M
1960 D-12-M - D-29-M
1961 D-4-M - D-11-M D-3-B -
1962 D-2-M - D-29-M D-3-B -
1963
1964 D42M - D88M D-3-B -
1965 D28M - D75M D-3-B - D-5-B
1966 D31M - D88M
1967 D60M -
1968 D62M -
1969 D-14-M - D-6-M -
1970
1971
1972 D-35-M - D-88-M D-1-M - D-3-M
1973 D-4-M - D-4-B -
1974 D-68-M - D-88-M
1975 D-62-M - D-90-M D-15-M - D-16-M
1976 D-18-M -
1977 D-1-B -
1978 D481M -
1979 D505M -
1980
NEWCOMER
Earliest seen 1931. Flat replacement plates stencilled with "M-A-L-100", pair seen.
Described in period news article as temporary plates issued to non-residents who
hadn't received their new out-of-state plates yet as of plate-changing time.
MAL = Malihini, Hawaiian for "Newcomer". Also seen 1936 #MAL 1.
PERSONALIZED
Act 121 P 6/24/1969, E immediately. Began 1970.
1-6 characters allowed for $100 initial fee per each baseplate.
PERSONALIZED MOTORCYCLE
Reported in 1978.
REPLACEMENT/BLANK
Listed in 1922-29 Hawaii Co. orders. Earliest seen 1937.
1937-38, 1948-50, 1952, 1957-75 known.
1976-80: Hawaii county issued embossed plates #Z-1 - Z-1370.
REPLACEMENT/BLANK MOTORCYCLE
Listed in 1922-29 Hawaii Co. orders. Earliest seen 1948.
SAMPLE
Earliest seen 1926.
1926 00000
1927-39 00-000
1940 A/O 0000 (Honolulu ordered 100 single plates)
1941-49 A 0000
1950 1A0000
1951-52 1A-000
1953-68 0A-000
1969-75 0S000, 1K-000, 000-000
1976-80 Type 1 0S000 (500 made)
Type 1a HS0000 (100 made; Hawaii county)
Type 2 0S-000
STATE OWNED
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Earliest seen 1957/60 base.
Previously issued Territory Owned plates.
LEGENDS: Stepped "STATE" left all years.
STATE OWNED MOTORCYCLE
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Earliest seen 1957/60 base.
Previously issued Territory Owned Motorcycle plates.
LEGENDS: Stepped "STATE" left all years, "SH" 1962-68 tabs.
1976-80: Wide dies 1-2-digits, thin dies 3-digits.
STATE OWNED TRAILER
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Earliest seen 1957/60 base.
Previously issued Territory Owned Trailer plates.
LEGENDS: Vertical "TRAILER" left, stepped "STATE" center all years,
"SH" 1962-68 tabs.
STATE STATE M/C STATE TRAILER
1957-60 285 93 144
1961-68 2800 95 299
1969-75 3888 93 287
1976-80 3911 223 271
TERRITORY OWNED
Ch. 198 P 1921. Began 1922.
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Discontinued by 1960; replaced by
State Owned. Numbers 1 - 199 assigned 1927.
LEGENDS: Vertical "TH" left 1922, horizontal "TH" left 1931-59.
TERRITORY OWNED MOTORCYCLE
Listed 1927. Not shown on 1935 blueprint. Earliest seen 1957/60 base.
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Discontinued by 1960; replaced by
State Owned Motorcycle. Numbers 1 - 50 assigned 1927.
LEGENDS: "TH" left 1957-59, "TH" 1959 tab.
TERRITORY OWNED TRAILER
Earliest seen 1949.
Statehood granted 8/21/1959. Discontinued by 1960; replaced by
State Owned Trailer.
LEGENDS: "TH" left followed by vertical "TRAILER" 1949,
vertical "TRAILER" left followed by "TH" prefix 1957/60,
"TH" 1954-59 tabs.
TH TH M/C TH TRAILER
1922 45
1923
1924
1925
1926 [199]
1927 [199] [50]
1928 [199]
1929 [299]
1930 [299]
1931 [299]
1932 [299]
1933 [299]
1934 2
1935 89
1936 [400]
1937
1938 1
1939 [400]
1940 [500] [50?]
1941 389
1942 242
1946
1947 [900] [75]
1948 944
1949 819 68
1950 1147
1951 1033
1952 68
1953-56 240
1957-60 1697 99 160
TRAILER
Reported 1938. Earliest seen 1939.
(Honolulu 1935 city issue seen.)
Honolulu assigned #5000 - 6999 1961-68, #15000 - 18999 1969-75,
#50-000 - 55-000 1976-80.
County assignments same as Motorcycle 1976-80.
LEGENDS: Vertical "TRAILER" left all years,
"TRLR" 1954-63 tabs, "TL" 1964-68 tabs.
1939 [5-000 - 5-999 Honolulu], 4-143
1940 [5-000 - 5-999 Honolulu]
1941 3-319 - 3-396
1942 3-286
1946
1947 2030, 6192
1948 3422
1949
1950 5734, 3573 [2000 - 2699 Hawaii]
1951 5988 - 6402, 3154
1952 5514 - 6655
1953/56 5237 - 7732, 2282, 3112 - 3187
1957/60 4170 - 4895, 10227 - 10499
1961/68 3131, 4068 - 4998, 5010 - 5496, 12223 - 15099
1969/75 3-339 - 3-481, 5041 - 6555, 9004, 18-927, 21-332,
23-499, 24103, 25 602, 29424, 30219 - 33040
1976/80 Type 1 [10-000 - 11-499 Hawaii], 32-804, 52-947 - 71-726
Type 2 14-296, 32-553
TRUCK (See Truck page)
Began 1938.
UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN/SENATOR
Act 11 P 5/8/1961, E immediately. Earliest seen 1961/68 base.
Congressmen issued #R-1 - R-2, Senators issued #S-1 - S-2.
Hawaii had 1 U.S. Representative in 1959-62 and 2 since 1963, and
has always had 2 U.S. Senators.
1961-68: Small "S" prefix and hyphen left, "HAWAII" right, "U.S. SENATOR" bottom, #S-1.
1969-75: Small "R" prefix and hyphen left, "HAWAII" right, "CONGRESSMAN" bottom, #R-1.
WAGON
Listed in Hawaii Co. orders 1926-29. Not shown on 1935 blueprint.
Earliest seen 1939. Issued singly to horse-drawn vehicles.
Hawaii Co. assigned numbers 1 - 700 in 1928.
As of 1977, only issued in Honolulu and Hawaii.
LEGENDS: Vertical "WAGON" right 1939-42, left 1957-68, 1976-80,
"WGN" 1954-63 tabs, "WG" 1964-66 tabs.
1939 [6-000 - 6-199 Honolulu], 3-723, 4-125
1940 [5-000 - 5-199 Honolulu]
1941 2004 -
1942 3-072 - 3-183
1957/60 5005 - 5040
1961/68 5004 - 5044
1969/75
1976/80 5047 -
WAIKIKI MAYOR
Earliest seen 1961-68 base, "ALOHA" top, "HAWAII" bottom,
"WAIKIKI" left, "MAYOR" right, #1.
TABLE 1 - CITY/COUNTY OWNED
C&C C of H C of M C of K
1922
1923 [451 - 520]
1924 [NONE]
1925
1926
1927
1928 [451 - 535]
1929 [601 - 685]
1930
1931 369 -
1932 496 - [601 - 685]
1933 [601 - 685]
1934
1935 [701 - 800]
1936 [401 - 700]
1937 427 - 787 -
1938 1101MC - 1118MC
1939 [401 - 700] 811 - 823 C-1186 - 1187
1940 [501 - 800]
1941 926 -
1942
1946
1947 860 -
1948 1 - 911 -
1949 CK1326 -
1950 1 - [700 - 999]
1951 317 - MC-141 -
1952 320 -
1953-56 80 - 155 -
1957-60 479 - 1092 190 - 289
1961-68 5 - 1871 162 - 537 - 110 -
1969-75 1000 - 3043 300 - 694 82 - 664 223 - 320
1976-80 2290 - 3091 447 - 494 333 - 367
TABLE 2 - CITY/COUNTY OWNED MOTORCYCLE
C&C C of H C of M C of K
1927
1928
1929 [201 - 215]
1930
1931
1932 [201 - 215]
1933 [201 - 215]
1934
1935
1936 [51 - 60]
1937
1938
1939 [51 - 60]
1940 [51 - 60]
1941
1942
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953-56
1957-60 43 - 99 2 - 8
1961-68 131 - 196 3 -
1969-75 17 - 190 11 - 5 -
1976-80 34 - 451
TABLE 3 - CITY/COUNTY OWNED TRAILER
C&C C of H C of M C of K
1953-56 548 -
1957-60 76 - 195 560 -
1961-68 112 - 200 582 - 594
1969-75 99 - 118 78 - 99 12 -
1976-80 59 - 197 26 - 22 - 41
