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No Gold Star Family Tag Here — the Only Military Tags Are Disabled Veterans and the VFW

The registration chapter of the Code contains exactly one veteran subchapter, and it is the Disabled American Veterans registration. The Department's own list of organisational tags runs to thirty entries and contains two with any military content: Disabled Veterans, in two designs, and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US. There is no Gold Star Family tag, no Purple Heart tag and no former prisoner of war tag to apply for.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The registration chapter of the Code contains exactly one veteran subchapter, and it is the Disabled American Veterans registration. The Department's own list of organisational tags runs to thirty entries and contains two with any military content: Disabled Veterans, in two designs, and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US. There is no Gold Star Family tag, no Purple Heart tag and no former prisoner of war tag to apply for.

This record exists to correct a myth. Gold star plates exist in most states and are widely written about as if they were universal. They are creatures of individual legislatures. Here the Council has not made one, and a family that has lost a servicemember should be told that plainly rather than sent to a counter.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served.
  • A gold star tag would be a family tag, which is why this record is written for families as well as veterans.
  • Your home is in the District.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Do not spend a morning at a service centre asking for it. The registration chapter of the Code runs to five subchapters — general provisions, motor vehicle sales records, Disabled American Veterans registration, rental vehicle registration and international registration plan agreements — and the veteran content is in exactly one of them.
  2. 2The organisational tag list is where a gold star tag would appear if one existed, and it does not. Of thirty entries, the two with military content are Disabled Veterans, offered in two designs, and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US.
  3. 3If you are eligible for the Disabled American Veterans registration, claim that instead. It is the one veteran registration concession the Code actually confers here, and the corpus records it separately.
  4. 4A gold star family living here and registering a vehicle in a neighbouring jurisdiction is a different question with a different answer. Ask the jurisdiction where the vehicle is registered, not this one.
  5. 5If this changes it will change by Council legislation amending chapter 15, so the section numbers above are the ones to re-check.
Form
None — there is no such tag to apply for
File with
Nobody, for the gold star tag. For the Disabled American Veterans registration, the Department of Motor Vehicles
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionGold star plates exist in most states and are widely written about as if they were universal. They are creatures of individual legislatures. Here the Council has not made one, and a family that has lost a servicemember should be told that plainly rather than sent to a counter.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.