When you get your vehicle inspected this year, expect to see a new sticker on the windshield. On Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, the Virginia State Police unveiled changes to both the design and the colors of inspection stickers through 2029.
RICHMOND – The Virginia State Police unveiled Wednesday what the new automobile inspection stickers will look like starting this year, and there will be numerous changes.
The most notable change is the color, according to a VSP statement. For the first time ever, the stickers will be green. That replaces blue, which had been the color of choice since 2019.
It is only the second color change since Virginia started requiring state inspections in 1932. Between then and 2018, inspection stickers were yellow.
In the statement, VSP said the changes were necessary to make inspection stickers harder to counterfeit.
“We want Virginians to have confidence that when they see an inspection sticker on a vehicle that the vehicle has been truly inspected by a qualified professional, and that vehicle is, in fact, safe to be out on the road,” interim VSP superintendent Lt. Col. This Matthew Hanley, said in the statement. “These new features add an additional layer of security to ensure criminals are not circumventing the safety inspection system.”
More: Progress-Index 2024 Newsmaker: A Marlo Green leads historic Pocahontas Island revival
A sticker of many colors in coming years
The change to green is the first of several anticipated color adjustments in coming years.
The ones going onto cars in 2025 and expiring next year are green. That will be followed by blue for 2027 expirations, red for 2028 and back to yellow for 2029.
VSP said the color changes again are an effort to short-circuit counterfeiting.
More: Will Sheriff Karl Leonard walk on fire? If raises $5K beyond Polar Plunge goal, you betcha
Additional changes
In addition to the colors, the overall appearance of the inspection sticker will include the following:
Story continues
-
the single- or double-digit expiration month appears over a white background, and the expiration date – in this case, “26” – will be atop the dogwood image.
The changes will not affect the size or positioning of the inspection sticker on a car windshield. They still will go in the lower corner of the windshield on the driver’s side.
Inspection-sticker counterfeiting is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia. It carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: New look coming for Virginia car inspection stickers