IA license plate - current design

New IA license plate - black letters

AMES, Iowa – July 8, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation announces that, beginning July 11, 2011, the color of the alpha-numeric characters and other text on newly issued license plates will change from dark blue to black.

This change affects only standard plates and specialty plates that have a blue and white background. This does not affect specialty plates that use a special color for the alpha-numeric characters as part of their design, such as collegiate plates and firefighter plates.
Changing to black will increase the contrast with the background and make the alpha-numeric characters easier to read, which is important to law enforcement.  It will also make plate production more consistent and cost-effective. This will not affect the design on the plates.