Road Trip License Plate Game

Texas License Plate

Plate Designs

Lone Star (Current)

Texas current license plate: plain white background with a large outlined lone star in the upper left, TEXAS in very large bold black text at the top center, massive bold black registration characters ABC on the left and 1234 on the right, a small black silhouette of the state of Texas with a lone star between the letter and number groups, and The Lone Star State in bold black text along the bottom

Texas's current standard plate is a study in confident restraint. The background is plain white — no scenic illustration, no color wash — and that blankness is itself a statement. In the upper left, a single large outlined star commands attention without being filled: the lone star as an open form, like a badge waiting to be claimed. Across the top, "TEXAS" is set in enormous, heavy black bold serif letters that fill nearly the full width of the plate — there is no ambiguity about what state you're looking at. The registration characters below are equally massive, rendered in thick black with just enough shadow to give them dimension, split by a small black silhouette of the Texas state outline with a star at its center. At the bottom, "The Lone Star State" appears in a clean serif font in black. No frills, no gradient, no tourism pitch — just Texas, stated plainly and at maximum volume.

Texas Sky (Previous)

Texas previous license plate with blue border: scenic background showing a royal blue section in the upper left with a large white lone star, red and blue paint-splash stripes across the top evoking the Texas flag, and a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds on the right; TEXAS in bold white text with blue outline at the top center; large bold black registration characters ABC and 1234 flanking a small Texas-flag-colored state silhouette in the center; stylized purple and mauve mountains along the bottom with The Lone Star State in white script text

This earlier design brings color and energy back to the plate in a distinctive way. The upper half of the background is split: the left side carries the royal blue of the Texas flag with a bold white lone star in the corner, while broad red and blue paint-stroke swashes sweep across the top, evoking the flag's vertical bar and stripes without directly reproducing them. To the right, the background opens into a wide blue sky filled with voluminous white clouds — the kind of dramatic, open sky that feels very much like West Texas or the Hill Country on a clear afternoon. "TEXAS" is set in thick white block letters with a blue outline across the top center, grounded and readable against both the flag-colored and sky sections. The registration characters are large and black, flanking a small state silhouette colored to match the Texas flag: the left third blue with a white star, the right two-thirds divided into red and white. Below the numbers, the background transitions to soft purple-grey mountains rendered in a simple, illustrative style, and across them "The Lone Star State" flows in white script. This plate packs a lot into its six by twelve inches but keeps it cohesive through a consistent red, white, and blue palette.

Space and Cowboy (Previous)

Texas previous license plate with blue border: deep blue sky background that lightens to white toward the center, TEXAS in large bold red letters with dark blue outline at the top center, large blue registration characters ABC and 123 with darker blue shadow flanking a small Texas-flag-colored state silhouette, a white space shuttle in the upper left corner, a white crescent moon and stars in the upper right corner, and a solid blue bottom band with a panoramic silhouette scene of a cowboy on horseback, a cactus, an oil derrick, and rolling terrain above white block text reading THE LONE STAR STATE

This earlier Texas plate is the state's most ambitious design and one of the most visually layered plates in the game. The background runs from deep navy at the top through a sweeping gradient to near-white at the center, suggesting an evening or dawn sky over open land. "TEXAS" blazes across the top in bold red letters edged with a dark navy outline — the color choice making it pop off the dark blue background with unusual force. The registration characters are rendered in medium blue with a dark shadow for depth. Between the letter and number groups, a small state outline is colored to match the Texas flag. What makes this plate remarkable, though, is everything packed into its borders. In the upper left, a white space shuttle — a nod to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston — arcs upward into the star-dotted sky. In the upper right, a crescent moon and scattered stars give the night-sky atmosphere. The solid blue bottom band carries a full panoramic scene of Texas iconography: a cowboy on horseback at center, cactus plants and scrub brush in the middle ground, and an oil derrick rising on the right — all rendered as clean dark-blue silhouettes. "THE LONE STAR STATE" runs across this strip in white block letters. It is the Texas of mythology in a single plate: space exploration, cattle culture, petroleum, and wide open sky, all coexisting.

How Rare Is It on the Road Trip Game?

Common. Texas is the second most populous state in the country with over 30 million residents and a vehicle fleet to match. Its plates travel the full grid of major interstates — I-10, I-20, I-35, and I-40 — and those highways carry Texas plates deep into every neighboring state and beyond. Whether you're on the East Coast, in the Midwest, or anywhere in the South, Texas plates show up with dependable frequency.

Spotting Tip

The Texas plate is a constant on I-10 from El Paso to Jacksonville, on I-35 from San Antonio through Dallas to Oklahoma City, and on I-20 from Midland through Fort Worth into Louisiana. The Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and the Houston metro together generate an enormous share of Texas plates heading in every direction. For concentrated sightings outside Texas, I-35 through Oklahoma and Kansas is especially productive — the Dallas-to-Kansas-City corridor is a Texas-plate highway. Rest stops along I-10 in New Mexico and Louisiana and along I-30 in Arkansas see heavy Texas traffic year-round.

Fun Fact

Texas was an independent nation — the Republic of Texas — for nearly a decade before joining the United States in 1845. That history shapes the state's identity to this day: the lone star on the flag and plates is a direct symbol of that singular sovereignty. Texas is also the only state that entered the union by treaty rather than by an act of territorial organization, which is why the persistent (if legally dubious) legend holds that Texas retains the right to divide into five states — a claim that turns up on bumper stickers almost as often as the plates themselves.

Ready to keep hunting? Head back to the game to check TX off your list, or browse all 50 states in the guide.

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