In 1929 alone, the Tarheel State saw 690 motor vehicle fatalities on the state's roadways and highways. Traffic control was of such concern that in 1929 the General Assembly passed an act authorizing the establishment of a State Highway Patrol.

The new organization was given statutory responsibility to patrol the highways of the state, enforce the motor vehicle laws, and assist the motoring public. The organization was designed as a division of the State Highway Commission. The Highway Commission initially sent ten men (later designated as a captain and nine lieutenants) to Pennsylvania to attend the training school of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Their mission was to study law, first aid, light adjustments, vehicle operation, and related subjects for use in North Carolina's first Patrol School. An office was established in Raleigh to serve as state headquarters, and a district office was established in each of the nine highway districts. A lieutenant and three patrolmen were assigned to each district. All patrolmen were issued Harley Davidson motorcycles and the lieutenants drove Model A Ford Coupes.The Patrol commander was issued a Buick automobile.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol's primary mission is to reduce collisions and make the highways of North Carolina as safe as possible. Since 1929 the mission of the Highway Patrol has not changed. From a handful of Highway Patrolmen in 1929 the Highway Patrol now employees 1,455 troopers and 365 Motor Carrier officers to cover more than 78,000 miles of North Carolina roadways.

In 2004, the State Highway Patrol arrested 26,005 people for driving while impaired, seized $10 million worth of drugs, and investigated 1,119 fatal collisions on North Carolina highways. The Motor Carrier unit fined thousands of truck drivers for various violations. Troopers and Motor Carrier Enforcement officers also guide traffic during hurricane evacuations or re-route traffic around hazardous chemical spills. The Patrol stands ready, should any act of terrorism occur, to carry out the directives of the Governor. The Highway Patrol has eight Troop locations throughout the state.

License plates of the North Carolina Highway Patrol

The earliest known license plates used by the NCHP were those issued in 1935 for the agency's fleet of new convertibles. The plates were made of embossed steel and measured approximately 5 1/2 inches by 12 inches and were painted in silver over black. The prefix SHP was used followed by a dash and a three digit number believed to have begun at number 100. The state name was spelled out in full along the bottom of the plate.
In 1936, the plates continued with the SHP-### format on the same sized plate but this time embossed on aluminum rather than steel.
the color scheme was dark blue over aluminum with the state name embossed along the the top of the plate. It has also been stated that for some of thse plates, the year "36" which was embossed in the top right corner of the plate for other motor vehicles in the state, was hammered-out flat to make this plate valid for several years. These plates were intended to be run for several years and in some cases may have, however a 1937 photo clearly shows a marked NCHP car bearing regular passenger license plates instead.
It has been stated by Tar Heel State old-timers that the 1936 SHP license plates were re-used very often including up into the 1960's !
Confirmed "survivors" for the 1936 base plate are SHP 237, 264, 285, 325 and 367.

As seen in the photo below, a marked NCHP car is sporting a North Carolina passenger car license plate number 358-735. This creates a query, as the 1936 SHP prefixed plate decribed above was supposed to be a multi-year usage plate for the Patrol. Therefore, either the passenger plate seen for 1937 was a "one-off", or the passenger plates were used in conjunction with the SHP multi-year plates. More evidence is needed to be certain.
It can be surmised based on the lack of data, that for several years up to 1945, that the NCHP issued passenger series license plates for its patrol fleet.

1938 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Black over yellow-orange.	1939 passenger issue. Embossed steel. White over red.	1940 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Maroon over silver.
1941 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Yellow-orange over black.	1942 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Black over yellow-orange.	1943 passenger issue. Embossed steel tab. Black over yellow-orange.
1944 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Yellow-orange over black.	1945 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Black over yellow-orange.	Return of SHP prefix. Yellow-Orange over black Matching county tab shown.
1947 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Black over yellow-orange.	1948 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Yellow-orange over black.	1947 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Black over yellow-orange.
1948- Road Block. (Courtesy Anthony Barnes)
Patrolman Clyde R. Shook in Wilkesboro 1949. Regular passenger series license plate # 661-320. (Courtesy Hunter Simmons via NCSHP Sgt. David Williams)
1950 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Yellow-orange over black.	1951 passenger issue. Embossed steel. Red over white.	1952 passenger issue. Embossed steel. White over red.

The clearest information to date on early NCHP license plates began in 1956. A NCHP Trooper by the name of F. Coleman Simmons made a habit of keeping the license plates issued annually to his patrol car from his first year of service until his retirement. It gives a glimpse into a very obscure era of NCHP license plate use as so few "on duty" photographs showing license plate issuance (rear of vehicle only) exist and no real records of issuance were retained.
Based on the Simmons collection and the recollection of other retirees from the era, annually issued plates from 1956 until 1976 were regular passenger series plates issued in a "bloc" of letter and letter combination prefixes followed by a number of mostly 3 but sometimes 4 digits.
The license plate prefix letter blocs varied from year to year depending on which local issuing agency generated the bloc.
As for the numbers during that time, some retirees recall the numbers being issued based on district, rank and seniority. Others advise that the same number was the radio number for the officer.
For example, one retiree remembered the 1967 issue as the NK letter combination prefix with the first number indicating the district number, the second number indicating the rank (2 for Sergeant and 3 for Trooper) and the third number being the assignment number. Hence a 1967 NCHP license plate with number NK 338 (as seen below from the Simmons collection) would indicate a District 3 Trooper number 8 on the seniority list. It would also be radio call number 338.
A closer look at all the F. Coleman Simmons collection would indicate that although this MAY have been true for 1967, the 1968 plate (DX 3839) throws that pattern into doubt. As do the issues before and after from the fluctuation in numbers.
What we DO KNOW are the alphabetical prefix combinations...what we still don't know for certain is the meaning of the numbers during that period.
Most of the Simmons plates are in the 300 series despite his seniority as the years continued leading to his retirement.

In 1975, the state of North Carolina conducted a complete license plate re-issuance for the state. The new design for passenger car license plates that year was an embossed aluminum plate in red over reflective white. The top center of the plate had a new embossed slogan: "FIRST IN FREEDOM".
The registration number consisted of three letters followed by three numbers. The separation between the last letter and the first number had the year 75 stacked vertically and acting as a hyphen between the alpha side of the registration number and the numeric. The state name was spelled out in full along the bottom of the plate.
The top corners of the plate had lightly embossed figures to indicate positioning of validation decals.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol were issued the FAA-### and FAB-### registration blocs for 1975 and 1976.

For the first time in over 30 years, the NCHP launched an agency-specific license plate for all of its marked fleet in 1977.
The plate was the same red over reflective white color scheme as for the past two years and using the slogan FIRST IN FREEDOM. This time however, in lieu of recesses for validation decals in the upper corners, the year 1977 was embossed with the first two digits of the year occupying the top left corner of the plate and 77 occupying the right. The state name was still spelled-out in full along the bottom.
The plate had a registration number commencing with the Highway Patrol prefix of HP followed by a dash and then followed by a number up to three digits and by 1978, four digits.
HP-100 was reserved for the Colonel of the NCHP and the numbers descended in order of seniority from there.

In 1983 a major change in North Carolina license plates took place. A silkscreened red white and blue license plate was issued honoring the 80th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's historic first manned flight at Kitty Hawk NC. The plate had blue embossed characters over a reflective white background. An image of the Wright brothers' aircraft is centered at the top of the plate in blue with the shore grasses stretching the entire lower length of the plate in the same silkscreened color. The new slogan First in Flight was silkscreened in red between the upper mounting holes and the state name was silkscreened in a stylized red font along the bottom of the plate.
NCHP license plates continued to be issued annually with the first two digits of the year embossed in blue at the top left corner of the plate and the latter two numbers of the year embossed in blue at the top right corner.
The HP prefix continued for the NCHP until 1994 when the prefix SHP (State Highway Patrol) was substituted.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol is the only state law enforcement agency in the nation to continue issuing annual license plates for its motor vehicle fleet.

In 2019, the North Carolina Highway Patrol celebrated its 90th Anniversary of service. As part of the commemoration, special souvenir license plates were made as souvenir keepsakes for all sworn and civilian staff which included their call number. The plates were made by the state and in the black over silver color scheme of the Patrol. The top portion of the plate has 20 and 19 embossed in the upper corners and 'Serving 1929 Since' inscribed in black silkscreen at the top center. At the left center portion of the plate, is the NCSHP 90th Anniversary roundel motif silkscreened in black, silver and blue. To the right of that is the personnel "call number" prefixed with either the Troop or Unit letter. At the bottom of the plate is the state name embossed in black along the entire span.
The plates were directed NOT to be used on NCSHP vehicles in lieu of the traditional First in Flight plates.

Front License Plates used by the North Carolina Highway Patrol

Over the years since the 1970's, the North Carolina Highway Patrol has issued various types of official license plates to adorn the front of their patrol vehicles.
These early front plates are known as "flag tags". The plates are made on flat aluminum stock and screen painted. The colors are white characters over a green background. STATE OWNED occupies the top center of the plate. A large full color image of the North Carolina state flag occupies most of the center left field of the plate.
Welcome To is situated to the right of the flag in white as is the state name in full at the bottom center of the plate.
The early versions of this plate have a darker green background and are non-reflective.
Newer versions use a reflective green background.

Since the early 2000's other front plate choices were launched, as can be seen below.

Motorcycle License plates used by the North Carolina Highway Patrol

The usage of motorcycles in the early days of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is virtually unknown.
A 1937 NCHP motorcycle license plate number HP 53 was discovered by several years ago. The plate had the format and color scheme of the contemporary regular motorcycle plates of the time. Embossed steel measuring 7 1/4" x 2 7/8" in orange over black.
No other NCHP motorcycle license plates are known until the current issue was launched in 2005.
The newest NCHP motorcycle license plate is a standard 7" x 4" embossed aluminum plate. It is colored blue over reflective white. N.C. is embossed at the top center of the plate. The prefix HPMU (Highway Patrol Motor(cycle) Unit is followed by a small dash and the assignment number.
The plate is validated by means of an annual expiry decal which features the plate number printed in the registration field at the bottom of the decal. This decal is affixed at the top right portion of the plate.
A month decal is affixed to the left portion of the plate with a 12 (December) expiry.

Specialty and Commemorative Issues

The North Carolina Highway Patrol has released a variety of sanctioned "booster plates" aside from the "flag tags" outlined further above. There have also been a number of non-sanctioned booster plates that have also made their way onto the front ends of NCHP vehicles. Booster license plates to commemorate Anniversary milestones were released for the 50th, 60th, 70th and 75th, 80th, 85th and 90th Anniversaries thusfar.
There have also been some locally-generated booster plates, some centering on Troop or unit specialization showcasing.
There have also been a number of NCHP Association booster plates developed as well.

Retirees of the North Carolina Highway Patrol can obtain special graphic license plates for their private vehicles indicating their retirement from service with the NCHP.
The plates follow the same red/white/blue graphic motif as the in-service plates used by the NCHP since 1983.
The emblem of the NCHP appears at the far left of the plate and SHP-RETIRED in black on the lower outter circumference of the emblem. A number up to four digits is embossed in the center and HP is silkscreened in blue "stacked" to the right side of the plate.
The plates are validated annually with month and year decals assigned to the owner.

North Carolina Highway Carrier Enforcement