Starting this month – North Dakota drivers who have to renew their car licenses – or who buy a new car and need license plates – will get new plates.
“It's been 23 years since the last plate was issued here in the state of North Dakota,” said State Transportation director Grant Levi.
Levi says the 2013 Legislature authorized the new plates – and the design was okayed by the Legislature’s Budget Section. The new plates have the state’s tourism slogan, “Legendary,” along with the words “Peace Garden State.” They also show North Dakota’s top crop – wheat. And there’s a photo.
“It depicts the sunrise in North Dakota," said Levi. "And that's why we're referring to it as the 'Sunrise plate,'” said Levi.
The old plate was called the “buffalo” plate. But Levi says there is a buffalo in the skyline on the new plate.
And there is another change.
“If you look at our old plate, you'll see we had letters followed by numbers," said NDDOT Deputy Director for Driver and Vehicle Services Mark Nelson. "On the new style plate, the numbers are first and the letters are second."
Nelson says that’s to avoid confusion with the older plates.
And these plates do not have raised numbers or letters.
“Some believed at the time that being able to go without the raised letters meant you could go to a thinner sheet," said Levi. "As a result, by being able to do that, you could save some costs in material.”
DOT says the standard sized plates are ready to go. Other plates – for motorcycles and trailers – are still being developed. DOT has a deadline of July first, 2017, to have all sizes of license plates ready for issue.
