Butter-yellow license plates could be coming to Wisconsin
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has also proposed creating new specialty blackout license plates, which have grown in popularity in recent years.
As “America’s Dairyland,” Wisconsin has always taken its butter seriously. For 72 years it was illegal in Wisconsin to purchase margarine, a butter alternative made from oil, and buttermakers across the state today are held to high standards. Soon, the bumpers of Wisconsinites’ cars could be tagged to reflect this deep history.
In his 2025-27 biennial budget proposal, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has proposed creating new butter-yellow specialty license plates, which would have a yellow background with black letters.
“From promoting endangered species and the Ice Age Trail to honoring veterans and service members to supporting Wisconsin sports teams, there are currently several ways for Wisconsinites to customize and personalize their license plates to show their Wisconsin style, and this provision would add a couple more,” Evers said. “Not only that, but these specialty plates will generate revenue for the state down the road while celebrating our proud history as ‘America’s Dairyland.’”
The yellow license plate design is a throwback to one that was used in the state until 1986, according to the Evers administration. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation requested to relaunch the design because there has recently been high demand for the retro yellow.
Wisconsin produces roughly 361 million pounds of butter every year, according to Gina Mode, the assistant coordinator of cheese industry and applications with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research. Wisconsin is the only state that requires buttermakers to be licensed, and state law requires all butter sold in Wisconsin to be graded on qualities such as flavor and texture.
There are currently 71 licensed buttermakers in Wisconsin and at least 13 buttermaking facilities across the state. Butter and other dairy products that are made in Wisconsin have a “Proudly Wisconsin” label on their packaging or a product code that starts with the number 55 on it to let shoppers know it’s from Wisconsin.
In his budget, Evers also proposed adding specialty “blackout” license plates, which are black with white letters and have grown in popularity in nearby states in recent years.
The Wisconsin DOT offers at least 60 different specialty license plates for Wisconsinites to purchase, including a green-and-gold Green Bay Packers plate and a blue-and-yellow plate with a mammoth on it to celebrate the state’s Ice Age Trail. Some of the state’s newest specialty license plates to hit the road include one from the Wisconsin County Forests Association, which debuted in January and depicts a wooded area surrounding a river, and one from the International Crane Foundation, which debuted last October and features an artistic drawing of sandhill and whooping cranes in a Wisconsin marsh. When Wisconsinites buy some specialty license plates associated with organizations, an extra fee included in the cost is passed on to those groups as a donation.
The butter-yellow and blackout specialty plates, if approved through the upcoming budget process, would require a one-time plate fee of $15 and an annual fee of $25, according to the Evers administration. While the annual fee would help cover the cost of the plates, the Wisconsin DOT estimated that it could produce more than $2.7 million in additional revenue in fiscal year 2026 and nearly $8.3 million in fiscal year 2027. By 2030, the plates could produce more than $23 million in revenue, according to the Evers administration.
