What do all those hideous oval stickers mean on cars in VA, MD and DC?

Question

I moved to the area 2 years ago from Kasnas and found it strange that many cars have these funny stickers. They are always oval, have 3-4 letters and generally white with black lettering and trim. What do these mean?

Answer 1

The other answers are partly right, but only partly.

The origin of the oval stickers comes from foreign automobile laws.  Cars that travel between countries, particularly in Europe, carry the sticker to show their country of origin.  So, a car might have a sticker to show that it is from Germany, Belgium, France, or whatever.  

Cars started showing up in the Washington area that were driven by embassy employees, and naturally they carried the same stickers that they had before they were brought over.  Showing that your car was from another place apparently carried some prestige, and it became a matter of a combination joke and snob appeal to have a sticker that show your real heart is somewhere else--like the Outer Banks, Rehoboth, or even in some neighborhood in Washington.  (Folks in Mount Pleasant in the District can get MtP stickers for example. )

Bottom line:  For most cars, they're just decoration, and maybe an inside joke.

Answer 2

The most common I've seen is "OBX" for "Outer Banks" - a popular beach spot in NC.

Answer 3

they are city name abbreviations

Answer 4

yah i have lived here my whole life, and they usually mean the abreviation of the city where some one lives