AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has denied a Confederate group’s latest attempt to create a specialty license plate celebrating Confederate soldiers.
The department’s board voted 5-3 Thursday to reject the license plate design proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which features a rebel soldier carrying a Texas regiment’s special flag at a Civil War battle. The plate was backed by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who said “there’s no profit in hiding our history.”
The decision marks the second time the board has rejected the group’s specialty plate, following a denial of a Confederate battle flag design that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.
The recent design was criticized as looking similar to an existing plate that raises money for the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund.
