Mississippi is getting a new standard license plate design starting in January, featuring the magnolia that’s also on the state flag, Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday.
The flower in a blue circle will replace the state seal with “In God We Trust” that’s been on the plate since 2019. The phrase sparked a federal lawsuit in 2021 by nonreligious people who said the state was forcing them to have a religious message on their vehicles.
The license plate is also getting a new color scheme, with a white background instead of golden brown. The governor said people submitted more than 400 entries for a design contest, and a commission chose one by Leah Frances Eaton of Starkville. Judge Reeves wrote that the beliefs of the Mississippi plaintiffs are “sincere and deeply rooted,” but the U.S. Supreme Court “resolved a similar dilemma” in 1977 by ruling that people had a First Amendment right to cover “Live Free or Die” on the New Hampshire license plate.
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