POLAR yes, LORD no: Here are some personalized licence plates approved or rejected in the N.W.T. last year
WARNING: This story contains graphic language that may be offensive to some readers.
The N.W.T. government rejected six applications for personalized licence plates in 2022 — but REJECT wasn't one of them.
Those six characters are now on a motorcycle licence plate somewhere in the territory, according to the N.W.T.'s Department of Infrastructure. It was one of 95 applications the territory received for personalized plates that year.
HGWRTS, POLAR, NWTGRL, and SKODEN also made the cut.
What some may find more interesting, however, are the small handful that did not.
The territory has some rules for personalized licence plates. Six of the 95 applications last year weren't approved because they were made up of letters and numbers could be considered profane, offensive or suggestive.
LORD and JW were rejected because of religious meaning, according to the department. ETIT and IB6UB9 were rejected because of sexual meaning — and if you say the latter out loud, you might realize why. FJB46 was rejected for political meaning (in the current American context) and another, containing a word best known as a pejorative for Italians, was also rejected for inappropriate meaning.
Submitting an application for a personalized licence plate will cost you $250 in the N.W.T., and there a couple more rules to keep in mind. Personalized plates must be between two and six characters long, including spaces; symbols and punctuation are not allowed; and they can't be used on vehicles that require special plates — such as trailers, rentals or government and commercial vehicles.
So who makes the decisions?
Staff from the Infrastructure department's compliance and licensing division review personalized licence plate applications to make sure they comply with the rules, according to a department spokesperson. Then, the applications go to the division's director for final review.
If the plate is denied, the director will call the applicant to explain why. But the application gives people the option to fill out a second and third personalized plate option, and they can move forward with either of those — if the initial request is turned down.
If the individual doesn't have a second or third choice, they'll be refunded their $250. For those who don't want to go through the hassle of getting a personalized plate — it costs just $12 to get a normal licence plate in the N.W.T.
