It is my believe that these two designations are one and the same, for the following reasons:
It is believed that the first Michigan license plates with a letter "Y in a Diamond" were issued during the period that the 1966 Michigan license plates were being issued. This first issue was UNDATED, but manufactured in the colors of the 1966 MUNICIPAL/TAX EXEMPT license plates, dark blue on cream, light brown/tan.
It is my believe that these "Y in a Diamond" license plates were made specifically for NON-PROFIT organizations, the letter "Y" designating it as a "Non-Profit" license plate.
In the beginning, 1966, there was no designation on the license plate such as "Mon-Profit" or "School Bus", just the "Y in a Diamond" designation.
These Non-Profit organizations - usually churches, non-profit aid organizations, etc, would have had many types of vehicles, cars, trucks, vans, buses, etc.
The 1966 base license plate was used until the 1976 Red, White & Blue Bicentennial base unit was issued, and at that time, while the Diamond was removed, the letter "Y" designation was retained, along with the addition of a specific use, such as "Non-Profit" and "School Bus".
The reason I believe that these are "Non-Profit School Bus" license plates is because regular school district school buses and other vehicles are issued "Municipal" or "Tax Exempt" license plates, which from 1949 until 1966, had the letter "X in a Diamond" on the license plate, and from 1976 to present uses an "X" separator.
Therefore, it is my contention that these two designations are one and the same.
NOTE: I have no idea why, but my 1976 School Bus license plate has a 1982 Michigan Validation Sticker in the upper right corner. Evidently the "Non-Profit" license plates were actually issued validation stickers.
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| YEAR | NUMBER | COLORS | PHOTO |
| 1966 - 1975 | Y-04159 | Blue/Cream |  |
| Circa 1976-1983 | 26Y030 | Red, White & Blue |
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| Circa 1984-2007 | White on Blue | NEED | |
| Circa 2008-Present | Blue Bar Base | NEED | |
This page last changed or up-dated:
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 04:54:43 PM