The Colorado DMV began issuing driver licenses, instruction permits and identification cards with new designs in 2016. This design was updated in May 2020 to make it easier to read.

The card design includes an entirely new format and enhanced features, including laser-engraved information in grayscale, as well as new card material.

Valid driver licenses, instruction permits and identification cards with the past design can be used until their expiration date.

General Information

What You Need To Know

The image of the mountain on the front of the card is Mount Sneffels. Located in the San Juan Mountain Range west of Ouray and north of Telluride, this peak climbs to 14,158 feet making it the 27th tallest mountain in the state.

Current cards will remain valid through their expiration date.

The fee for a document will not change as a result of this new design.

All of the information on the card is laser-engraved and the primary photo will be grayscaled.

Temporary documents received in the office will look different, with individuals receiving a foldable temporary card.

The star at the top right of the card indicates that your document is a REAL ID. This allows you to use it to enter federal buildings and for air travel. You can read more about the REAL ID Act here.

New cards will continue to support organ and tissue donation and have military or veteran identifiers.

Documents issued under the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act (CO-RCSA) will still contain a black box that states "Not Valid For Federal Identification, Voting or Public Benefit Purposes".

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What do fields 4d and 5 represent?

A: Field 4d is the driver license number (also known as customer identifier). Field 5 is the document discriminator. ​It is an internal number used to uniquely identify a particular document issued to an individual from others that may have been issued in the past.

Q: There appears to be a crack on the front of my card that goes across my photograph. Is this normal?

A: Yes, This is a security feature that is built into all cards to make them more difficult to duplicate and is normal.