Fortunately, Kansas’ license plate design is like Kansas’ weather: If you don’t like it, don’t worry — it will change soon enough. No tears here for the passing of the Statehouse plate, with what looked from a distance like a mushroom cloud over the dome. But it’s hard to imagine the spare new "Ad Astra Per Aspera" design will prove very popular either, with its slice of our state seal that looks like a moonrise. Why don’t Kansans have input on plate designs, which, after all, present an image of the state across the country? The best news is that a new three-year transition to the plate will save the state $4.2 million of the $6 million authorized for the plate change.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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37 Comments
See, I never could figure out what the hell “Ad Astra per Aspera” was supposed to mean in first place. Don’t get me wrong, I was raised in Kansas and I know the State Motto translates to, “To the stars through difficulties,” but what the hell does *THAT* mean?
There’s a tornado, or Phred Felps, or people who think evolution is a sham because saber-toothed poodles were scampering around the feet of bronosauruses on Noah’s Ark… let’s check our horoscope!
It’s like when I was taught in 3rd Grade that the Official State Animal of Kansas was the buffalo (we killed ‘em and we ate ‘em!), but the buffalo isn’t really a buffalo, it’s a bison.
“So what’s the difference between a buffalo and a bison?” I asked. Two weeks detention. And I still don’t know the difference.
The new license plate should probably carry a relevant message. Something like: “Gateway to Nebraska.”
LTP,Sabertooth poodles? Now there’s an image I really didn’t need rattling around my brain!I’d suggest Dorothy’s rainbow, but Kansas christians would probably vandalize them, thinking they were gay-friendly.How about the motto: Kansas- in all ways flatter than yesterday’s beer!
“..present an image of the state across the country..” I don’t think so. We would have to have a tag with Fred’s face, the bible, and a gun; an anti-abortion slogan and an anti-mexican slogan, all in English. Oh yes, we need our new slogan “Kansas Bigoted as You Think” (Is that right?) Where would we put the numbers?
I saw a plate the other day that had no state identifier on it. Is this something new? If so, I do not like it.
hehehehe Pmom. I bet you’d get lots of takers for that “unlisted” plate in Kansas. Especially those of us who travel out of state.
And some wingnut will be along shortly to tell us that when it comes to Kansas, the capital of wingnuttia, we should all love it or leave it.
How’s THAT working out for Kansas?
I hope the last person leaving turns out the lights… unless Holcomb needs the money!
…and in the interests of calling a spade a bloody freakin’ shovel…
I DO think they should add the unofficial state motto. You were correct. It is “Kansas, as bigoted as you think”.
After all, over seventy percent of Kansans couldnt wait to get to the polls to prove that motto correct.
Indeed. The Land of Wingnuttia must run a close second.
I work in law enforcement and appreciate Kansas making the tags easy to read. Some of the more flashy tags are so cluttered they are impossible to read. Form follows function-the reason for having tags is to identify vehicles-not lure tourists.
Again, I say, a hemorrhoid wrapped in a brown ribbon. Along with the motto, “keeping your a**h**e safe.”
New Motto……………
Kansas – Home of Todd’s Tankers
WSC – how about “Kansas – without Todd’s Tankers”?
………..Kansas – You’re Halfway Across.
Kansas…It’ll only hurt for a little bit.
How about using the “John Brown at Harper’s Ferry” painting as a background on the plates?It is a well known painting that positively IDs Kansas, it would add new meanings, make the right wing religious nuts happy and make a very colorful plate.
Wiseman,
Harper’s Ferry is in West Virginia.
What we need is a license plate that recognizes our state’s most noted features. We can have a bloody fetus to signify our anti-abortion terrorists, a ‘god hates fag’ sign for the good Christian reverend in Topeka, a cloud of toxic smoke to signify our futuristic coal power plants, or some hairy guy dragging his knuckles to represent our opposition to science. So many possibilities and I didn’t even mention serial killers.
The problem with too much varied color, Wiseman, is that the text has to be readable from some distance, and if a complex image like the Brown would be invisible if you made it as small as it would need to be.
That said, this new design SUCKS. It’s far worse than the old one, IMHO.
How about a buffalo shape instead?http://www.w-a.com/nunavut.JPG
good use of color:http://www.us-way.de/license-plates/116.jpg
pardon me while i vomit:http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/motorvehicle/images/ChseLf.jpg
Impossible to read:http://www.pl8ster.net/PA/PAund_flagship.jpg
Very nice:http://www.pl8ster.net/NB/B02_conservation.jpg
http://www.pl8ster.net/WY/WY96_2660CF.jpg
http://www.pl8ster.net/IN/IN94_82C6278.jpg
http://www.pl8ster.net/NE/NE03_NCV726.jpg
These two are the best, IMHO:http://www.pl8ster.net/AK/AK76_ASY911.jpg
http://www.pl8ster.net/OR/OR95_SKT517.jpg
Thanks, Delsol………….. good stuff.
Don’t listen to anything WSC says:
“He has already stated that he will refuse to put a plate on his car in hopes that the plates will fail and to stick it to the prisoners who make them and the Corrections officials!”
/sarcasm off
How about a license plate with the likenesses of Dwight Eisenhower, Walter Chrysler, Amelia Earhart, and Jack Kilby, sort of a Mt Rushmore of Kansas design?
…’course they had to leave the state to accomplish anything. ;-)
Add Walter Johnson, early era baseball pitcher to that list, MPS.
A few dozen years from now, you can also add my granddaughter and grandson, but not just yet.
Damn, am I biased?
Or we could do something contemporary: how about a 767-conversion tanker going down in flames?
Or, a Boeing, Beech and Lear jet and a motto,”Kansans Love Canada!”
You know, the state seal is actually very colorful. They could easily have centered the seal to make it more symmetrical, kept the light blue background and dark blue text, and given the seal a bit of the color it already has. Make the “Kansas” purple to match the seal, and you’d have a nice plate.
But, that would cost more, and then the no-spend crowd would be all pissed off…
Where the family trees have no forks
How kind of the Governor to put her letterhead design on a Kansas license plate.
Yeah, thats right, Sebelius designed the plate herself.
Christ, what a cheap and stupid shot.
Come back in a year or two when you can do better.
Sotheysaid,
That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve seen in days on this blog. That image is the Great Seal of the State of Kansas. From the State of Kansas website:
============The First Session of the Kansas Legislature in 1861 provided for the creation of the Great Seal, described as follows:
“The East is represented by a rising sun, in the right hand corner of the seal; to the left of it, Commerce is represented by a river and a steamboat; in the foreground, agriculture is represented as the basis of the future prosperity of the state, by a settler’s cabin and a man plowing with a pair of horses; beyond this is a train of ox-wagons, going west; in the background is seen a herd of buffalo, retreating, pursued by two indians on horseback; around the top is the motto: ‘Ad astra per aspera,’ beneath a cluster of thirty-four stars. The circle is surrounded by the words: Great Seal of the State of Kansas. January 29, 1861.”
The motto which appears on the Great Seal, “Ad astra per aspera,” is Latin for “To the stars through difficulties.” The thirty-four stars represent the fact that Kansas was the thirty-fourth state admitted to the Union.========
Uh-huh… You are right about that Tom, it was just an ideal.How about a design your own plate?You get a personalize tag of your design from a retail outlet and have it register by DMV.With some clear DMV guide rules on the designs, the state could be making a little extra money.
I think I would get my personalize tag the same color as my car, silver trim and lettering with a watermark portrait of my child in the background.
How about a Meadowlark?
I was not discrediting the use of the state seal. If you have ever seen the letterhead the governor uses the new license plate is exactly like that. She allowed the state to use only one color on their stationary. Some of the letterhead is blue some of it is black. But this design is what is used on the letterhead. Check it out for yourself.
“Land of Oz”
Sotheysaid,
I’m shocked – STUNNED – that the Governor would use the Great Seal of the State of Kansas on the official letterhead. I’m completely at a loss for words. HOW DARE SHE???
Kate should be doing the perp walk any minute now. I’m mean really – matching state logos on license plates AND letterhead?
She ought to get at least 10 minutes in jail for that one.
WS,
But she should get 3 minutes off for good cost-cutting behavior. Instead of full-process color on letterheads, the State is only paying for single-color printing.
I’ve never felt a great need to respond in a blog in till now. The number of folks that seem to be so unhappy in Kansas is amazing. I was not aware of anything forcing folks to stay here, but then I think they would be the same anywhere they moved. I realize this is not a response to the new plate directly, but some of the comments I’ve read just compelled me to respond. The comment about ‘all in english’ was interesting. While I’m not anti-mexican, we ARE in the USA.Just why in the H*ll should I have to press ‘1′ for english?