Visit the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) website for detailed information on all standard vehicle services in Maryland.
Prior to July 1, 2025, if your vehicle was “age 20 years or older” and had not been altered from the manufacturer’s original design, you could register it as an Historic Vehicle. That got you Maryland Permanent Historic Tags and avoided the periodic Emissions Test. Several restrictions on the use of the vehicle applied.
Effective July 1, 2025, the law was changed to require that your vehicle must be “of model year 1999 or older” to be issued a Permanent Historic Tag. Model year 2000-2005 vehicles that currently have Permanent Historic Tags must convert them back to Standard Registration Tags and will now be subject to standard vehicle Emission Testing and requirements.
If your vehicle is “age 60 years or older” and has not been altered from the manufacturer’s original design, it can be issued a Permanent Historic Tag.
To display Maryland Vintage Tags, first register it as an Historic Vehicle. The vintage tags must be Maryland-issued, for the same registration year as your vehicle, and be the same quantity required that year for your vehicle.
Check out the Rick’s Plates website for an amazing pictorial collection of historic Maryland License Plates from 1910 to the present.