List your natural hair color on your driver’s license — the color your hair grows without dye, bleach, or other treatment. Hair color is a self-reported descriptor, and the DMV won’t verify it or push back on what you write. It exists so someone can confirm your identity at a glance, which means the right answer is whatever best describes your hair in its unaltered state today.
Natural Color, Not Current Color
DMVs want a stable trait. If you were born with brown hair and dye it platinum every six weeks, “brown” is still the right answer. Dye jobs change; your underlying color doesn’t. Someone checking your license against your appearance years from now is looking for a baseline, not your current salon visit.
Hair does change naturally over a lifetime, though. If yours has gone mostly gray or white, that’s your natural color now, even if you started out as a brunette. Graying is biology, not a temporary alteration, so “gray” or “white” is a fine entry. The question to ask yourself: what would a stranger call my hair if they saw it with no products or color in it?
The Options You Can Pick From
You don’t get to write in “chestnut with caramel highlights.” Most states use a standardized set of hair color codes drawn from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) data dictionary, and they appear as three-letter abbreviations on your printed license:1AAMVA. D20 Traffic Records Systems Data Dictionary
- BLK — Black
- BRO — Brown
- BLN — Blond
- RED — Red or auburn
- SDY — Sandy
- GRY — Gray
- WHI — White
- BAL — Bald
- UNK — Unknown
Pick the closest match. If your hair falls between brown and blond, go with whichever one a stranger would probably call it. Nobody is going to pull out a color swatch.
What to List If You’re Bald
“Bald” (BAL) is an official hair color designation in the AAMVA system, so you can list it directly. It applies whether you shave your head by choice or have lost your hair from a medical condition such as alopecia or chemotherapy.
In practice, some clerks will ask what color your hair would be if you had it; others will just mark “BAL.” Hair color is self-reported, so if you have a preference, say so. If hair loss is temporary — during chemotherapy, for instance — listing your pre-treatment natural color is reasonable, since the descriptor is meant to reflect a lasting characteristic.
When to Update Your Hair Color
No state requires a special trip to the DMV every time your hair changes. Hair color is a secondary identifier; your photo, name, and date of birth do the heavy lifting. Going from light brown to dark brown, or dyeing your hair for a few months, doesn’t call for an update.
A permanent, significant change is different. If you’ve gone fully gray, lost all your hair, or your license still says “blond” from twenty years ago when it should say “white,” updating the descriptor at your next renewal makes sense. Keeping it reasonably accurate avoids friction during an ID check.
How to Update It
Whether you can update hair color online or need to visit in person depends on where you live. Some states handle it either way; others don’t.
Maine’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles, for example, lets you change hair color, height, and weight during an online renewal or replacement.2Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Driver’s License and ID Card Online Renewal and Replacement FAQ Other states specifically block online changes to physical descriptors. Wisconsin lists updating a personal identifier like hair color as a reason you cannot use online renewal, meaning you’d have to go in person.3Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Online Driver License Renewal/Replacement California also requires an in-person visit for changes to your physical description, which includes a new photo.4California DMV. California Driver’s Handbook – Changing, Replacing, and Renewing Your Driver’s License
In person, expect a new photo and a replacement or duplicate license fee. Fees vary by state but generally run from about $5 to $30. If you’re close to your renewal date, it’s usually easier to wait and update the descriptor then.
Can You Get in Trouble for Listing the Wrong Color?
Most states make it illegal to provide false information on a driver’s license application. Florida’s statute is typical: knowingly making a false statement or concealing a material fact on a license application is a criminal offense.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 322.212
In reality, nobody is getting prosecuted because their license says “brown” and their hair is now gray. Those laws exist to catch people lying about identity, age, or medical fitness to drive. The practical risk of an outdated hair color entry is zero legal trouble and, at worst, a mildly confused officer or bouncer who glances at the descriptor and then looks at your photo. False descriptors can matter inside a broader pattern of misrepresentation, like a fake name and fabricated birthdate used to obtain a fraudulent license, but an honest person whose hair simply changed has nothing to worry about.