Maine License Plate

Plate Design

Vacationland (Current)

Maine current license plate: white background with a dark navy border, MAINE in bold green text centered at the top, a blue five-pointed star in the upper left corner with a tall green pine tree below it on the left side, large bold dark navy plate numbers in the center, and VACATIONLAND in bold green text centered along the bottom

Maine's current plate is clean, confident, and immediately readable from a distance. The background is a bright white with a bold dark navy border that frames everything neatly. "MAINE" runs across the top center in large, bold green block letters — the same green as a pine forest, which is intentional. The left side of the plate carries two small icons stacked vertically: a blue five-pointed star in the upper corner, and below it a stylized green pine tree with a brown trunk, the classic symbol of the Pine Tree State. The plate numbers sit in the center in large, heavy dark navy characters that contrast cleanly against the white background. Along the bottom, "VACATIONLAND" — Maine's famous state slogan — is printed in the same bold green as the state name, completing a design that's color-consistent and cohesive without relying on complicated imagery. The whole effect is simple, outdoorsy, and easy to read at a glance.

How Rare Is It on the Road Trip Game?

Rare. Maine is one of the smallest states by population at roughly 1.4 million residents — 42nd in the country — and it sits at the far northeastern tip of the US, accessible only through New Hampshire or across the Canadian border. That combination of small population and remote geography keeps Maine plates scarce everywhere outside New England. Even within the northeast corridor, you'll spot New York and Massachusetts plates far more often before a Maine plate turns up.

Spotting Tip

Your best shot in the northeast is I-95 through southern Maine and New Hampshire, which carries traffic between Portland and Boston. During summer months — Maine is legitimately called Vacationland for a reason — plates fan out a bit as Mainers head to the coast or drive south for city trips, making June through August the most productive window. If you're passing through the Boston area, watch the highway rest stops on I-95 and I-93 near the New Hampshire border; Maine plates cluster there heavily in summer. Outside New England, your realistic spots are airport parking garages in major hubs (Mainers do fly) and ski resort lots in Vermont and New Hampshire, where cross-state travel is common.

Fun Fact

Maine is the only US state that shares its border with exactly one other state — New Hampshire to the southwest — making it the most geographically "cornered" of the lower 48. Maine has used "Vacationland" as its official state slogan since 1936, one of the longest-running state slogans in the country. The pine tree on the plate references the Eastern White Pine, which is both Maine's state tree and a symbol deeply embedded in its history: during the colonial era, the tallest white pines were reserved by the British Crown as masts for the Royal Navy, a source of real tension that contributed to revolutionary sentiment in the region.