Posted on February 5, 2021

North Carolina to Stop Issuing Confederate Flag License Plates

Aris Folley, The Hill, February 1, 2021

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles said this week that it will stop issuing and renewing license plates that bear the Confederate flag.

Under the new policy, which took effect at the start of the year, the agency said in a statement to StarNews Online on Monday that it “will no longer issue or renew specialty license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag or any variation of that flag.”

“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,” the agency told the local outlet. “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.”

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In its statement confirming the new policy to the StarNews Online on Monday, the agency pointed to a past ruling in a case between the North Carolina division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the state.

According to the outlet, the group filed a lawsuit in the late 1990s in an effort to be labeled a civic organization and therefore be allowed to be issued a specialty plate. {snip}

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“However, SCV’s classification as a civic organization does not entitle it to dictate the contents of the government speech on that specialty plate,” it added.

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