I use RLA because the professional license in my state (MA) is as a Registered Landscape Architect. I’m not sure that anyone outside of our profession pays any attention to it. It seems logical to use the abbreviation of the license as it is the norm in other professions. I see that most states seals have “Registered Landscape Architect” or “Licensed Landscape Architect”. I believe that Hawaii and Nebraska have “Professional Landscape Architect” on their seals.
It seems to be a trend to use PLA, but it does not make sense to me to use something other than what the actual license is called. However, I don’t know that I have ever seen anyone use “LLA”, but that might be because RLA is what most northeast state licenses are and that is what I’m likely to see.
I think it would be a big issue if some people in other professions used a different set of letters than those abbreviating their license, but our professional license is not taken as seriously as such things as nurses or engineers. If it was we would not question what letters should follow. I’m not saying that is right or wrong, just how it is.
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