Colorado Military License Plates: Eligibility, Types, and Costs

Colorado military license plates are available to honorably discharged and retired veterans, active-duty and reserve members of every major service branch, recipients of specific military decorations, former prisoners of war, Pearl Harbor survivors, Gold Star family members, and in a few cases civilian supporters of designated military units. The state issues more than 40 designs under Colorado Revised Statutes 42-3-213, and most carry a one-time $50 issuance fee on top of standard registration costs.¹

Who Qualifies

The statute covers veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, and Special Forces, plus active-duty and reserve members of those branches. It also covers recipients of the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, and other valor awards, along with former prisoners of war and Pearl Harbor survivors.¹

Family members have a path too. A current or past spouse, child, sibling, grandparent, or parent of someone who died in the line of duty while serving in the armed forces can apply for a Gold Star family plate.¹

You don’t have to have served to get every plate. Civilian supporters can apply for plates honoring NORAD, the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division, the Civil Air Patrol, and the USS Colorado (SSN 788).¹

Which Plate to Pick

Designs are grouped a few different ways. Every major service branch has its own plate, and several units do as well, including the 10th Mountain Division, Navy SEALs, Navy submarine crews, and Special Forces.² Separate plates recognize women veterans and disabled women veterans.¹

Award recipients each get a dedicated design tied to the specific decoration. Conflict plates cover World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm.²

Documents You’ll Need

Most service branch plates require a copy of your DD214 showing honorable discharge, or a current military ID if you’re on active duty or in the reserves. Award plates require a DD214 or military orders specifically confirming the decoration. A Bronze Star plate, for example, requires a DD214 or orders confirming the Bronze Star was awarded.³ Gold Star family plates require documentation proving your relationship to the fallen service member.

How to Apply

Use Form DR 2002, the Colorado Military License Plate Application. Complete every section, gather your supporting documents, and take everything to any county motor vehicle office.³ Incomplete applications get returned, so don’t leave blanks.

One detail catches people off guard. Colorado military plates are produced through a print-on-demand process, so you won’t leave the county office holding your new plates. Once the application is approved and you’ve paid the applicable taxes and fees, the plates are mailed to the address on your motor vehicle record.² Update that address first if it’s out of date.

What It Costs

The default is a one-time $50 issuance fee on top of regular registration taxes and fees. That covers branch plates, conflict plates, and most unit and support designs.³

Some plates waive that fee, and a few go further and waive registration fees and ownership taxes on the first set:

Medal of Honor: first set exempt from issuance fees, registration fees, and ownership taxes.²
Purple Heart: first set exempt from issuance fees, registration fees, and ownership taxes.³
Pearl Harbor Survivor: first set exempt from the issuance fee.³
Distinguished Service Cross and Navy Cross: first set exempt from issuance fees.³
Disabled Veteran Handicapped: first set exempt from issuance and material fees.³
Gold Star family plates (Fallen Army, Fallen Marine, and the equivalents for other branches): first set not charged the issuance fee.³

If you qualify for an exempt plate and want a second set for another vehicle, that second set costs the standard $50 plus regular taxes and fees. Sales and use tax is never exempt, even on plates that waive everything else.²

Vehicles That Qualify

Not every vehicle can carry a military plate. The statute limits them to passenger cars, trucks with an empty weight of 16,000 pounds or less, motorcycles, and noncommercial or recreational vehicles.¹ Heavy-duty commercial trucks and vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan don’t qualify.

Disabled Veteran Plates: Two Versions, Big Difference

Colorado issues two different disabled veteran plates, and mixing them up can cost you a parking ticket.

The Disabled Veteran plate is available to any veteran who can show a 50% or greater service-connected disability rating. It does not grant disability parking privileges. The Colorado DMV states that this plate “does not permit the owner to park his/her vehicle or a vehicle in which they are a passenger in designated disability parking spaces.”³

The Disabled Veteran Handicapped plate requires both a 50% or greater service-connected disability rating and a physical impairment affecting mobility, verified in writing by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or podiatrist in Colorado or a bordering state. This version does carry disability parking privileges.³ To get it, submit a completed Application for Persons with Disabilities Parking Privileges (Form DR 2219) alongside your plate application. The medical certification is what unlocks reserved parking access; the VA rating alone is not enough.

Fraudulently obtaining or using a disability parking placard or plate in Colorado carries penalties under the state’s traffic code. Knowingly using a fraudulent placard, possessing one that doesn’t belong to you, or creating a device meant to look like one from outside the vehicle are all punishable offenses.⁴

1
Justia. Colorado Code 42-3-213 – License Plates
2
Colorado Department of Revenue. Colorado Military License Plate Application
3
Colorado Department of Revenue – Motor Vehicle. License Plates – Military
4
Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-1208 – Applicability