IL launches 3 new specialty license plates, but they are only available to some drivers
Three new specialty license plates will be available in Illinois in 2026, though they’ll only be offered to drivers who meet certain criteria.
An Emergency Medical Service Chief plate will be offered to municipality or fire protection district EMS chiefs, Max Walczyk, spokesperson for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, told the News-Democrat in an email. An EMS affirmation form will be required to obtain the plate, and the form is still in progress as of Jan. 8.
Another new specialty plate option is the Air Medal plate, for Illinois residents who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and received the Air Medal. Applicants are required to provide documentation of their discharge from military service verifying receipt of the Air Medal or a letter of verification from the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the federal government showing the service record.
The third new specialty plate in Illinois for 2026 is the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal license plate, available to residents who “served in the United States Armed Forces after July 1, 1958 and participated in U.S. military operations, U.S. operations in direct support of the United Nations, or U.S. operations of assistance for friendly foreign nations.”
How much do vanity or personalized plates cost in IL? How do I get one?
A standard passenger random license plate for a vehicle that’s already titled costs $151 in Illinois, but additional fees apply for vanity and personalized plates. If you’ve just acquired your vehicle and are registering it for the first time, the title fee is an additional $165.
For vehicles that are already titled, initial issuance costs $245 for a vanity plate and $198 for a personalized plate. The annual renewal fee is $164 for vanity plates and $158 for personalized plates.
You can use an online Pick-A-Plate tool to check if your desired vanity or personalized plate combination is available.
After submitting an application with the required fee, you can expect to wait at least 60 to 90 days to receive your new personalized or vanity plate.
If you’re picking a personalized message for your license plate in Illinois, you might want to check out the list of rejected requests. State officials report they rejected more than 550 requests in 2025 for offensive language or being difficult to read.
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