North Carolina First in Freedom Plate
2015–presentNorth Carolina · current · “First in Freedom”
Two dates in italic above the serial: 20 May 1775 and 12 April 1776. The first is the Mecklenburg Declaration, which North Carolina holds was the earliest colonial declaration of independence and which historians have doubted for two centuries; the second is the Halifax Resolves, which is documented and was the first formal call by any colony for independence. The state prints both and lets you decide. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
Still on the road
This is a current issue, first seen in 2015 and still being handed out. Nothing about it is settled history: the serial sequence is still advancing, and the design will only stop where the state decides to replace it.
Half stamped, half printed
Run a thumb across this plate and only the serial answers. The registration is still pressed into the metal the old way, while the state name, the slogan and any artwork are printed flat onto the reflective sheeting around it. Most plates issued in America today are made like this: the part that must be legible at speed and survive a decade of weather is stamped, and the part that carries the state's personality is printed, because printing can do colour and detail that a press cannot.
Sources
Reference photograph of an issued plate from a collector listing (All rights reserved, cited not reproduced). Issue date, serial format and the two dates printed on the plate (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- AAA-9999
- Material
- Aluminium: stamped serial on screened reflective sheeting
- Source license
- All rights reserved, cited not reproduced
- Reference
- View original