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Gold Star Family Plate — One Set Per Family Member, on a Lapel Button Test

The Gold Star Family plate under RIGL §31-3-111 goes to anyone eligible to receive a Gold Star Lapel Button as defined by the federal government — not to parents alone. One set is allowed per family member, so several relatives may each hold one, and a certification letter from the state veterans office is what the motor vehicle division asks for.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: One set of Gold Star Family plates per family member

The plate is available on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,000 lbs or less.
One set is allowed per family member under the section, so more than one relative may hold the plate at the same time.
A certification letter from the state veterans office is required — the division does not accept a DD214 alone for this plate.
Passenger vehicles renew every two years, in a month set by the first letter of the registered owner’s surname; trucks renew annually in March.
The division states no remarriage condition on this plate, unlike the veteran, disabled veteran, ex-POW, Purple Heart and Bronze Star plates, where a plate transferred to a surviving spouse is lost on remarriage.

Who is entitled to it

You are family of a member who died in service.
Your home is in this state.

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

1Ask the state veterans office for the certification letter first. It is the document the motor vehicle division names for this plate, and it is not the same as the executive certification used for the disabled veteran plate.
2Check the federal lapel button criteria rather than assuming a relationship is too distant. The division’s gate is eligibility for the Gold Star Lapel Button, not a fixed family list.
3Apply for one set each. The section allows one set per family member, so a mother and a sibling can each hold plates rather than competing for a single allocation.
4Watch the vehicle weight: the plate is for vehicles rated at 12,000 lbs gross or less.
5Note the renewal cadence — two years for passenger vehicles on a surname-letter month, annually in March for trucks.

Form: Gold Star Families Plate Application, with a certification letter
File with: Division of Motor Vehicles
Periodic: Re-confirmed from time to time.

CorrectionDescribing this as a Gold Star parent plate understates it. The division’s own page reads the eligibility as anybody who may receive the federal Gold Star Lapel Button, and allows one set per family member — so a surviving spouse, a sibling and a parent can hold plates at the same time.

Worth knowingThe remarriage bar that runs through the other military plates is absent here. On a veteran’s death the veteran, disabled veteran, ex-POW, Purple Heart and Bronze Star plates pass to the spouse only until they remarry; nothing on the division’s Gold Star Family entry imposes that condition.

Known gapThe section itself could not be read: the general laws host refused every connection and a browser session to it was denied on 23 August 2026. The section number, the eligibility gate and the documentation are the division’s own statements. The plate fee is not stated on either page read.

Sources

authority · published policyDivision of Motor Vehicles — Military / Veteran Plates: Gold Star Family (RIGL §31-3-111), lapel button eligibility, one set per family member, certification letter
operating · published policyDivision of Motor Vehicles — Veteran Placard, Plates and Registration Information (Gold Star Family plates listed among the military plates and their documentation)

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