Pine Tree License Plates Coming Soon to All Maine Drivers – Here’s How It Works

Curious about how to get your new Pine Tree license plate? We've got the details here. It's pretty simple, but there is one catch.

History of Maine License Plates

The first Maine license plates were issued in 1905, just two years after Henry Ford built the Ford Model A. License plates served one purpose only. To verify ownership, so there was nothing fancy about license plates for over 89 years.

That changed in 1987 when the first lobster plate was introduced. It was something we hadn't seen before, with a red lobster in the background of the plate behind the registration numbers.

The original lobster plate didn't look all that great. Many people thought it looked more like a bug than a lobster. It was around for only 12 years before it was replaced in 1999 with the chickadee plate, the design that has lasted the longest at nearly 26 years.

READ MORE: The Top 10 Cars That Catalytic Convertors Are Stolen From in the Northeast

The Pine Tree License Plate

In 2023 it was announced that chickadee license plates will be replaced starting on May 1, 2025 with the Pine Tree license plate. Every vehicle will have to have its plate replaced with the Pine Tree plate design. So how does this work?

How to Get Your Pine Tree Plate?

The Maine Department of the Secretary of State released info about how the process of getting your new plate works.

If you're like me and paid to reserve your plate because you wanted to keep your plate number, and you're using Rapid Renewal to pay your registration online, you'll get your pine tree plate sent to you in the mail within a month before your registration expires.

If you didn't reserve your plate, when you go to your local town office to re-register your vehicle, you'll be issued a pine tree plate at no cost to you. Hopefully.

Canadian Tariff Issues

As of this writing, President Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, and guess where Maine license plates are made? Yep. Canada. That could mean that you have to pay some amount to receive your pine tree plate.

Plates are set to become available as of May 1. Who knows what will happen between now and then?