They’re called vanity license plates and it’s a way for the state to make extra money.  Some people put their names or initials on them.  I’ve heard of people putting the name of their pet or some kind of combination of numbers and letters to form a phrase.

Some years ago the state began offering license plates to the state’s sports fans to show off their allegiance to their favorite team.  The state offers customized plates for fans of the Yankees, Mets, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New York Knicks, New York Jets and Giants and the Buffalo Sabres.

Since the Sabres have gone back to the original crossed swords logo, fans who already have a Sabres plate with the old logo can upgrade to the redesigned plate for a reduced fee of $28.75.

If you don’t have one, you can buy them for an initial fee of $60.00 and an annual fee of $31.25 after that.  That fee is in addition to the regular registration fee.

There’s a customized plate for NASCAR fans too.

The state DMV also has a long list of customized plates for military veterans including disabled veteran, Purple Heart recipient, World War Two, Korean War, Vietnam and War on Terror veteran, Pearl Harbor survivor, Gold Star mother.  I counted 37 different offerings.  Most of them have a one time processing fee and no annual fee after that.

There are two customized plates that have no fee at all – the customized plates for Former Prisoner of War and Congressional Medal of Honor.   Each of them has some requirements.

There are also plates supporting various causes, organizations, counties and regions of the state, colleges and
emergency services.

If you’d like to scroll thru the various custom plates the state offers, here's the link to the DMV

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