At the time of division, the governments of both territories agreed to Nunavut continuing to use the NWT's polar bear-shaped license plates, which had been in use since 1970.
Nunavut's version of the plate differed from the NWT's in the name of the jurisdiction at the bottom and the presence of an 'N' suffix in the serial.
In 2010, the government of the NWT decided to update its version of the polar bear-shaped plate.
On 6 March 2012, Iqaluit resident Ron Froese was named the winner.
His design consisted of a night scene featuring a polar bear, an inuksuk, three sets of northern lights to represent the three regions of Nunavut (Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Qikiqtaaluk), and 25 stars to represent the communities of the territory.