Vanity plate
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
A vanity plate is a special type of license plate, for example on an automobile. The owner of the plate will have paid extra money to have his or her own choice of numbers or letters, usually forming a recognizable phrase, slogan, or initialism. Sales of vanity plates are often a significant source of revenue for U.S. state programs.
In the United Kingdom, license plates are not issued if they contain words which are offensive in any (widely used) language. Additionally, plates containing the number 666 are not issued, because vehicles bearing them are more likely to be involved in accidents (perhaps because of the kind of person who wants such a plate).
Examples
Some examples of vanity plates seen in the U.S. include:
- 4NICK8 ("fornicate", on a Volkswagen bus)
- BO GM50 (a special Baltimore & Ohio Railroad locomotive)
- FENRY (on a Honda)
- POMPUS S ("Pompous ass", on a Mercedes)
- 2TH DK ("Tooth decay", on a dentist's car)
- OLD CR8 ("Old crate", on a large old car, best avoided in traffic)
- A55RGY (actually not a vanity plate, but a standard one. It wouldn't be so much fun if it is not a Florida license plate; the plate reads ASSȰRGY; the central image is a picture of an orange and the 5s are very rounded) [1] (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/blueplate/assorgy1.html)
- MOS 6502 and Illinois plate belonging to a fan of MOS Technology 6502.
- The cartoonist Keno Don Rosa from Kentucky has a vanity license plate reading "COMICS".
- In the film Falling Down, the main character is not named but we read in his plate D-FENS (he is a defense contractor).
A little story about a vanity plate is connected to the first ever wiki: English Sports Car: C2.COM (http://c2.com/sportscar.html)
External links
- Source on some of the above (http://www.zuko.com/license_plate_archive.htm)
