RALEIGH, N.C. — The state of North Carolina will no longer issue or renew license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag.
According to the Star-News of Wilmington, the removal of the license plate, issued to members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, became effective Jan. 1.
“Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the Division of Motor Vehicles will no longer issue or renew specialty license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag or any variation of that flag,” according to a statement from the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. “The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has determined that license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag have the potential to offend those who view them. We have therefore concluded that display of the Confederate battle flag is inappropriate for display on specialty license plates, which remain property of the state.”
The state announced it will continue to recognize the Sons of Confederate Veterans as a civic organization, which entitles the group to a specialty plate, according to The New York Times. However, state officials said the group did not have the right to dictate the contents of government speech on the plate, the newspaper reported.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans was founded in 1896, the Star-News reported.
The DMV cited a ruling in the 1998 North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Faulkner case. The Sons of Confederate Veterans sued the state to be recognized as a civic organization that qualified for a license plate. The organization won the case in a ruling upheld by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, WXII reported.
In its statement, the NCDMV said it remains in accordance with the ruling and said it does not extend to the actual contents of the specialty plate.
“Efforts were made, and will continue to be made, to work with the SCV to develop artwork for these specialty plates that does not contain the Confederate battle flag,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation said in a statement. “Since these efforts have proven unsuccessful so far, the DMV determined the agency would no longer issue or renew these specialty plates.”
The DMV said it remains open to considering alternative artwork for review, WTVD reported.
Frank Powell, spokesman for the North Carolina chapter of the SCV, said its members were not given advance warning and found out when they went in for renewals last month, the Star-News reported.
“Our plates were issued under a court order and it was upheld by the N.C. Court of Appeals,” Powell told the newspaper. “I don’t care who is the commissioner of the Department of Transportation is, they cannot violate the ruling.”
The Confederate specialty plate was among nearly 200 available in North Carolina, The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported. The SCV plate cost drivers $30 for a personalization fee and a mandatory $10 plate fee, the newspaper reported.
Larry McCluney Jr., the commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, told the Times that the license plates were no different than those displayed by members of other civic organizations.
“What we see here is just an attack on American history,” McCluney told the newspaper. “We live in an era where all it takes is for one or a couple of people to say, ‘I’m offended by it,’ yet the majority has to kowtow to it.”