# What are fake ''license plates'' called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878 "2005-03-16T21:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/1 "2005-03-16T21:29:24Z")
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? If not, then what are they called? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/2 "2005-03-16T21:36:42Z")
Vanity plates are the personalized ones. The fakes are fakes. AFAIK, thats all there is to it. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/3 "2005-03-16T22:00:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/4 "2005-03-17T01:30:14Z")
I call them ‘novelty plates’. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/5 "2005-03-17T03:58:43Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > If not, then what are they called? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/6 "2005-03-17T05:33:18Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/7 "2005-03-17T10:23:35Z")
‘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. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/8 "2005-03-17T14:45:32Z")
Which states require both front and rear plates? Illinois requires both. Missouri, IIRC, used to only require the rear but now requires both. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/9 "2005-03-17T17:11:35Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Which states require both front and rear plates? As far as I know, you don’t get a front plate in: Pennsylvania Delaware West Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Tennessee Michigan Indiana Louisiana …and the province of Nova Scotia. I might have left a couple off that list; I’m not sure about Kentucky and Arkansas. And Mississippi. But I’m sure about the rest of them. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/10 "2005-03-17T18:45:58Z")
No front plate in Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-fake-license-plates-called/294878/11 "2005-03-17T18:55:24Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > No front plate in Mississippi. Likewise in New Mexico