New military themed license plates will be available throughout Pennsylvania. Recently passed legislation allows the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to offer license plates honoring military members and their families. Two of these new plates - the Air Medal license plate and the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans license plate - recognize veterans' special contributions during their service.

Applicants for the Air Medal license plate must submit a completed Form MV-150, "Application for U.S. Military Service License plate," and a legible photocopy of their Form DD214, "Separation Papers or Discharge Papers," to show that they are recipients of the medal. The license plate contains the standard Pennsylvania license plate colors of blue, white, and gold and depicts an image of the Air Medal.

Applicants for the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans license plate must submit a completed Form MV-150V, "Application for U.S. Military Veteran License plate," and a legible photocopy of their Form DD214, "Separation Papers or Discharge Papers." Only veterans who served in both theaters of operation are eligible for these license plates. The license plate contains the standard Pennsylvania license plate colors of blue, white, and gold and depicts images of both the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal.

A third license plate design authorized by the legislation is the Blue Star Family license plate. Applications for this license plate must be submitted on Form MV-920, "Application for Blue Star Family Plate," and certify that the applicant is a family member of an active-duty, Reserve, or National Guard service member. Family members include spouses, parents, step-parents, adoptive parents, foster parents in loco parentis, children, stepchildren, adopted children, brothers, sisters, half-brothers or half-sisters, and grandparents. The license plate contains the standard Pennsylvania license plate colors of blue, white, and gold and depicts an image of the Blue Star Family flag, which has a red border around a white background with a blue star in the center.

All three plates are available for a fee for passenger cars or trucks with a registered gross weight of not more than 14,000 pounds.

More information, including eligibility requirements and images of the license plates, is available by visiting http://www.dmv.pa.gov and looking under Vehicle Services for Registration Plates and then Military.