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Special Plates

Personalized Plates

Personalized license plates are available for Oahu residents with cars, trucks, motorcycles and trailers currently registered with the City and County of Honolulu.

Only  standard issue license plates are eligible as personalized license plates. Personalization is not available on electric vehicle, Hawaii specialty, organizational, or veteran specialty license plates.

Oahu residents may order personalized license plates as a gift for an individual with a vehicle registered in the City and County of Honolulu.

It will take 60 to 90 days for the license plate to be prepared and additional time for the requestor to be notified and complete the pickup and replacement procedures.

License plates are primarily meant for law enforcement officers to identify vehicles in cases of crime and to safeguard drivers on the road.

All personalized license plate requests get a first-round review. The ones deemed questionable get flagged for additional scrutiny.

Administrative Rules for Personalized License Plates

Effective July 1, 2022, the nonrefundable annual fee for a personalized license plate increased to $60 under state rules (Section 249-9.1 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes). The fee applies to the initial application and all annual renewals of a vehicle’s registration, and is in addition to all other registration/renewal fees. Personalized license plates annual fee increase FAQs.

A personalized license plate is limited to a combination of six letters and numbers.

A space is counted as one character. One hyphen is allowed in addition to the six letter and number combination. No other punctuation marks are allowed.

All license plates issued in the City and County of Honolulu are government property and speak for the Hawaii state government. The City and County of Honolulu has the right to regulate what can be written on a license plate as long as the regulations are reasonable and uniformly applied.

Forbidden phrases include words or connotations of a sexual, obscene, profane, or vulgar nature, or relating to excretory functions or intimate body parts.

Motorists who are applying for personalized license plates must follow the city’s rules prohibiting certain kinds of words or phrases.

Administrative Rules for Personalized License Plates

Initial applications for personalized license plates are only accepted online. Oahu residents with currently registered vehicles may use the system.

1. Go to the city’s personalized plate website to check if the preferred character combination is available.

2. If the license plate is available, reserve it by completing and submitting the online application. You must enter a valid mailing address and email address.

3. Complete payment with a credit card. The annual fee for a personalized license plate is $60, which will be added to all subsequent motor vehicle renewal fees and taxes.

4. After approval of the requested license plate letter/number combination, you will receive a letter in 60 to 90 days providing procedures and requirements. The letter provides procedures and requirements for the following.

    • Selecting a satellite city hall pick up location.
    • Updating and renewing the vehicle registration.
    • Replacing the current license plates and registration decal.
    • Payment of fees. The license plate and emblem replacement fee is $5.50.

Please visit this page for information about transfering a vehicle that has personalized license plates. If retiring a personalized license plate, the owner may keep the front license plate as a memento and surrender the back license plate.

Illustration of the Polynesian Voyaging Society license plate featuring the voyaging canoe Hokulea.
Illustration of the two National Parks Service license plates. On the left is the Nene (goose) and the Haleakala Park scenescape, and on the right is a volcano erupting in the Hawaii Volcanoes park.

Hawaii Specialty License Plates

The Polynesian Voyaging Society, Haleakala National Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park license plates are available to provide monetary support for these programs.

The specialty license plates are available for purchase at all satellite city halls or available by mail.

  1. Download and Complete the application form.
  2. Visit any satellite city hall.
  3. Surrender your current Certificate of Registration and License Plates for your vehicle.
  4. The initial cost is $35.50. After that, the annual renewal fee is $25. The organization receives $20 with each payment.

OR

  1. Download and Complete the application form.
  2. Return the application with your current Certificate of Registration with the appropriate payment to:
         Division of Motor Vehicles
         P.O. Box 30330
         Honolulu, HI 96820-0330.
  3. If registration IS NOT due, the initial cost is $35.50.
  4. If registration IS DUE, the cost is the registration fee plus $35.50.
  5. After that, the annual renewal fee is $25. The organization receives $20 with each payment.
The Combat Wounded Hawaii License Plate, a white plate with the rainbow arced across it in the background. The words Combat Wounded are vertically placed on the left side along with the full-color image of the Purple Heart medal. The plate number is in black, with the words "Hawai'i" and "Aloha State" in black at the top and bottom of the plate.

Veteran Specialty Plates

Veteran Specialty License Plates are available to qualified applicants:

  • Combat Veteran
  • Combat Wounded (Purple Heart recipient)
  • Former Prisoner of War
  • Gold Star Family
  • Korea Veteran
  • Pearl Harbor Survivor
  • Persian Gulf Veteran
  • Veteran
  • Vietnam Veteran
  • World War II Veteran

Veteran Specialty License Plates may be assigned only to noncommercial passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles or motor scooters registered in the name of a qualified applicant.

Qualified applicants must provide:

  • Original or certified copy of these documents:
    • DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty
    • NGB Form 22 (National Guard Report of Separation and Record of Service)
    • DD Form 217 (Certificate of Service)
    • WD AGO 53, WD AGO 55, WD AGO 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge)
    • Military Retired Identification Card (DD Form 2, Retired)
    • Official Military Orders
    • Verification letter issued by the Veterans Administration
    • Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) 

  • Eligibility certification from the Hawaii Office of Veterans’ Services (ph: 808-433-0420).
  • Completed application for Veteran Specialty License Plates form CS-L(MVR)192.
  • Current vehicle registration, license plates and valid Hawaii vehicle (safety) inspection certificate.

A one-time $5.50 fee for the new license plates and emblem will be collected in addition to any annual vehicle registration fees; there is no additional annual recurring fee for Veteran Specialty License Plates.

You must surrender the veteran license plates and obtain regular issued license plates, ($5.50 new license plate and emblem fee). Transferring registered ownership out of qualified applicant’s name will not be recorded until the Veteran Specialty License Plates are replaced with regular issued license plates.

Organization License Plate

The Organization License Plates Program assists qualified not-for-profit organizations to raise funds for community public health, education or general welfare programs.

The organization license plates are available for purchase at all satellite city halls.

  1. Visit any satellite city hall.
  2. Complete the application form.
  3. Surrender your current Certificate of Registration and License Plates for your vehicle.
  4. The initial cost is $30.50. After that, the annual renewal fee is $25. The organization receives $20 with each payment.

Organization License Plate Options

  1. Visit any satellite city hall. 
  2. Complete the application form.
  3. Surrender your current Certificate of Registration and License Plates for your vehicle.
  4. Pay the initial cost of $30.50 and choose your design: dog, cat or bird.
  5. Hawaiian Humane receives $20 from your initial payment.
  6. Each year when you renew your registration, the fee is $25. Hawaiian Humane receives $20 from each renewal.
  7. When you renew, you can keep your current design or choose a new one.
  8. To select a different design at renewal, visit any satellite city hall to complete your registration in person. You’ll receive new decals but keep your existing license plates.
    Note: If you renew at a DMV Now kiosk, online or through the mail, you will not receive new decals.
  9. For more information about Hawaiian Humane, visit HawaiianHumane.org/specialtyplates.

If you have a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization interested in applying for the organization license plate program, please download this document. 

The 11 current organizational license plate decals: Top Row: The America United decal in the image of a U.S. Flag with stars and a stripe of white and a stripe of red, Bishop Museum with a honu, the University of Hawaii decal with the Power H logo, and the three Hawaiian Humane Society decals each featuring the outline of a different animal, a dog, a bird and a cat. Second Row: the Hawaii Firefighters logo decal, the Honolulu Police Relief Association logo, Kamehameha Schools logo decal, the Protect our Native Species decal with a red bird, and the Shaka Decal.
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