NCDMV removes Confederate battle flag license plate

RALEIGH, NC (StarNews) — Six months after acknowledging it had received complaints about the representation of the Confederate battle flag on a specialty license plate, the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer issue or renew the plate for drivers.

The removal of the license plate, issued to members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, quietly became effective at the start of the new year, according to a statement from the NCDMV.

“Effective January 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,” the statement read. “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.”

In July 2020, as the nation became embroiled in a reckoning with its racial past spurned by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, the NCDMV confirmed it had received complaints about plates bearing the Confederate flag.

Read more here.