The great state of Ohio, which has been engaged in a years-long war with North Carolina over who can claim to be the birthplace of aviation, has a new license plate, the first one in eight years. On it is an image of the Wright Flyer, which appears to be towing a banner laying claim to Ohio as the birthplace of aviation. Except the plane is facing the wrong direction.
This was a fact that was pointed out almost immediately by old aircraft knowers on Twitter. Or maybe they are just regular knowers. We spotted it on Hooniverse.
Governor Mike Dewine unveiled the new plate today, a design of his and his wife Fran’s choosing, so thanks Mike and Fran. Almost immediately, the state said, “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m trying to remove it.”
I grew up in Ohio, and the plate’s design initially struck me as good, orientation error or not, but the more I look at it, the more I notice how busy the design is. There is a dog, a child on a swing, a city skyline, rolling hills, wheat, some water, and then a sunrise and blue skies as well to go along with the Wright Flyer and state silhouette.
But then again, I’m not sure it is worse than the Ohio plates of my youth. This is the first I really remember from childhood. It was introduced in 1991:
A version of that with more gold came next, followed by these pieces of garbage:
Next came the following plate, a precursor to the one unveiled by DeWine.
Ohio’s outgoing plate, introduced in 2013, is just, what the hell is this:
Beginning in 1909, Ohio used a different license plate every year until 1973, all of which are better than the one the DeWines came up with. I mean look at 1938's, for example, pure class:
Make Ohio license plates good again.