If you’re in a state that requires real tags on front and back, this probably doesn’t mean much, but anyway. . .
You can buy all sorts of license plate-ish things for the front of your vehicle. I had a conversation with someoen who referred to them as “vanity plates.” I had always thought that vanity plates were the personalized tags. A cursory web search implied that that’s what the term most commonly refers to. So the GQs:
Can “vanity plate” refer the fake license plates for the front?
They aren’t really fakes, since they aren’t an attempt to pass themselves off as an official plate of any sort. They’re just something to stick in the front plate holder in states that don’t issue a front plate. IMO, they aren’t “vanity plates” either, as that term indicates a customized official plate. “Decorative license plate” is a term which seems to be used.
I am a stickler for the exact word or phrase to clearly define something.
I always go with, “ah…you know…um, those license plate thingys, you know, on the, ah, front of the car where the license plate would, ah, go if we were in a state that, um, had plates that go in font.”
Sorry to go all technical on you, but you did ask.
As said by postcards Novelty Plates IMO is the best, most official name for them.
Here in NY State both a front & back plate are required, however after 9/11 I put a novelty US flag plate on the front instead and no cop has stopped me about it yet…
‘Booster plate’ is another term for a license plate displayed at the front, in areas where license plates in the front of a vehicle are not required. In some instances, places which normally require front plates have suspended the rule temporarily so that a special booster plate can be displayed (e.g. to celebrate a major anniversary for a country, state or province). I think it’s also possible to bolt a booster plate to the bottom of a real license plate, at least for some cars.
I only discovered the term ‘booster plate’ a few weeks ago, but it seemed somehow familiar. I live in a jurisdiction that requires front license plates, so they aren’t commonly sold here, but I think I may have heard the term used in other areas where front plates aren’t required and booster plates are more popular. ‘Novelty plate’ sounds like a good term too, though.