Editor’s note: This story was originally published in March 2025.
Maine is about to get its first major license plate update since Bill Clinton sat in the Oval Office.
Since 1999, the standard Maine license plate has featured a chickadee — the artwork by Mark McCollough, an endangered species biologist — that replaced the old lobster plates.
The Legislature approved phasing out the chickadee license plate in 2023, and the Maine secretary of state’s office unveiled two designs — one evocative of the 1901 pine tree flag, the other a spartan design with blue identification number and letter combinations against a white background — last year.
That changeover begins this year, and before we say goodbye to the chickadee plate, here’s what you need to know as the time comes for you to make the switch.
When will the transition happen?
The Maine secretary of state’s office began replacing the chickadee license plate on May 1, 2025, and that process will continue through July 31, 2026, according to spokesperson Clare Davitt.
More than 900,000 plates are expected to be replaced during that time.
How much will it cost?
The state anticipated that the rollout of the new standard-issue license plates would cost just over $7 million. Costs are staying within those projections, according to Davitt.
How about you personally? Well, that depends. If you want to reserve your plate registration number, it will cost $25. But if you have no special attachment to or affinity for your plate number, then it’ll cost you nothing.
How do I reserve my plate number?
You have a couple options if you want to hang onto your plate number.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles has a webpage where you can go to reserve your number. But if you’re old school, you can print a paper form to fill out and take to your BMV branch office or mail it in.
How long do I have to reserve my plate number?
There’s no hard deadline for you to do so. But to ensure you have your new plates before your registration expires, you should use one of the two above options as soon as possible.
How will I get my new plates?
The reserved plates will be mailed to your home a month before your registration expires. For everyone else, they’ll get their plates at their town office or BMV branch office when they renew their registration.
Why is Maine even getting rid of the chickadee plates?
It has nothing to do with our beloved state bird and everything to do with public safety.
Given that Maine hasn’t changed the standard-issue license plate since 1999, there are many plates out there deteriorating beyond recognition.
The reflective material on the plates actually begins to deteriorate markedly within the first five years on the road, reducing visibility at night. And when the numbers and letters on plates degrade, it makes it harder for police to identify vehicles involved in crashes or crimes, and for tolls to be collected on the Maine Turnpike.
The American Association of Motor Vehicles recommends states change their standard-issue license plates at least once every 10 years.
Additionally, the changeover forces scofflaws who have avoided registering their vehicles to do so, which brings in more revenue for the state’s Highway Fund. Between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000, when Maine rolled out the standard-issue chickadee license plate, the state saw 81,679 new vehicle registrations, more than the prior two years combined, as well as a nearly 11 percent bump in revenue, according to the Maine secretary of state’s office.
What if I don’t have a chickadee license plate?
If you like your specialty license plate, you can keep it. This changeover will affect just those with the chickadee plate.
Will looming Canadian tariffs have an impact?
It might seem silly to think geopolitics could affect something as minor as the rollout of Maine’s new license plates, but welcome to 2025.
Most state license plates are made within the Maine Department of Corrections. But the license plate machinery at the Maine State Prison in Warren presented a challenge.
The machinery in the plate shop is so old and outdated, it’s not possible to determine its age in some cases. At least one press machine has been in use since 1952, and despite its age, is actually more reliable than the press installed in 1986, according to a 2023 Bureau of Motor Vehicles report.
That plate shop can produce up to 300,000 sets a year, but that capacity is too low to churn out about 900,000 before the end of July 2026.
So while the Department of Corrections continues to produce specialty plates, the state has contracted with Waldale Manufacturing of Nova Scotia, which is producing all the new standard-issue plates.
Now President Donald Trump is threatening to impose 25 percent tariffs on most Canadian imports and to remove exemptions to his first administration’s aluminum tariffs. (License plates are made of aluminum.) Those tariffs are on hold once again.
Questions remain about the impact of the tariffs on the rollout of the new license plates. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told ABC affiliate WMTW this week that if the tariffs increase the cost beyond that approved by the Legislature, it could be passed onto Maine taxpayers.
Davitt, the secretary of state’s office spokesperson, said in a March 6 email that “we are still evaluating the impact at this time.”
