NC has three standard license plates. Which one is most popular with vehicle owners?
State lawmakers in recent years have given North Carolinians two new standard license plates to choose from, but a wide majority still opt for the version that’s been available for 40 years: “First in Flight.”
The slogan, which commemorates the first powered flight by the Wright brothers near Kitty Hawk in December 1903, first appeared on North Carolina license plates in 1982. With its silhouette of the Wright flyer in blue, it was the only standard plate available until 2015.
That’s when the Division of Motor Vehicles began issuing “First in Freedom” plates that celebrate two North Carolina events from the early days of the American Revolution. In time, about a quarter of vehicle owners chose the new slogan, while the rest stuck with First in Flight.
Then in 2019, DMV began offering a third option. It has the national motto, “In God We Trust,” at the top and an English translation of the state’s motto, “Esse quam videri” — “To Be Rather Than To Seem” — in italics at the bottom.
Lawmakers established both new license plates with language in the state budget, rather than in bills that they would have voted on separately.
In God We Trust proved more popular than First in Freedom, quickly accounting for more than a quarter of new plates, according to data from the DMV.
But First in Flight remains most popular. Over the last three years, it’s been the choice of about 60% of vehicle owners getting a new tag for their cars and trucks.
First in Freedom lags a distant third, accounting for about 13% of new standard plates issued over the last three years.
The First in Freedom plate has a quill pen and two dates that also appear on the state flag and state seal. They are:
▪ May 20, 1775, when delegates from local militia groups in Charlotte signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, thought to be the first Colonial statement of separation from Great Britain. It was signed a few weeks after the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
▪ April 12, 1776, when 83 members of North Carolina’s provincial congress met in the town of Halifax and adopted what became known as the Halifax Resolves, directing the colony to declare independence and encouraging others to do the same. Three months later, the Declaration of Independence was ratified in Philadelphia.
At least 20 states offer license plates bearing the words In God We Trust, either as standard or optional vanity plates. The phrase became the national motto in 1956, when Congress unanimously passed a resolution to answer the official atheism of the Soviet Union. It began appearing on U.S. currency the next year.
To Be Rather Than To Seem became the state’s motto in 1893, when the legislature adopted the Latin version. The Latin appears on the state seal.
This story was originally published December 26, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "NC has three standard license plates. Which one is most popular with vehicle owners?."
