Here’s the design Kansans voted on to be the next state license plate
Kansans have picked a new state-issued license plate after residents bashed the original design.
The criticism was intense enough that Gov. Laura Kelly decided to leave it up to Kansans to pick the next license plate. Last week, residents were given five designs to choose from and had a chance to vote from Dec. 11 to Dec. 15.
After thousands of votes, the clear winner was the design featuring the Kansas Statehouse dome within a cutout of the state and a yellow, white and blue gradient background. This design received over 140,000 votes, or 53% of the nearly 270,000 who voted.
“It’s great to see Kansans’ passion for representing our great state,” Kelly said in a statement. “Now, we can move forward on a design that received majority support and get clearer, safer license plates on the streets as soon as possible.
What was wrong with the original Kansas license plate design?
The governor rolled out the original design in November, a dark line across the top and gold space with the plate numbers and “to the stars” at the bottom. The backlash was immediate.
People recognized the yellow and black color scheme — from a neighboring state.
One-word reviews sprouted on X, formerly Twitter: “MIZ.”
Some folks see NFL colors. “New Kansas license plates. Because we are all Pittsburgh Steelers fans now??” wondered one Facebook user.
“I think it looks like a West Virginia license plate,” tweeted one X user. “These license plates are huge miss and misrepresent Kansas. What a disappointment.”
“Don’t New York my Kansas,” @jhawk4life tweeted.
“Gives me New York vibes,” said one reviewer on Facebook.
“Reminds me of my old Alaska tags!” another Facebook user said.
“it’s an entire shame of the license plate. Got folks thinking we live in Alaska or something lol,” added another.
The original design was one of the five choices, but had a lighter blue.
Other designs in the voting include an outline of the state, wheat and sunflowers. Each design pays homage to the state motto of “ad astra per aspera,” Latin for “To the stars through difficulty,” with “to the stars” printed under the license number.
Who gets the new license plate?
Vehicle owners who update their registration in January or February and have the current embossed plates will receive the current state design on flat, print-on-demand plates, the state said.
Vehicle owners who update their registration starting in March and have the embossed plates will get the design voted by Kansans on the flat, print-on-demand plates. Anyone affected by the change will receive instructions about replacing their current plates at the appropriate time, state officials said. New plates will be mailed within 30 days of processing renewals.
More information with instructions about replacements will be mailed with regular renewal notices. For more information, visit ksrevenue.gov/dovnewplate.html.
The Star’s Lisa Gutierrez contributed to this report.
