March 29, 2024

A new look for Iowa plates

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Iowa Department of Transportation is distributing license plates with a new design.

The updated design, titled “City and Country,” was selected as the new license plate after it won 113,299 votes of 291,095 total votes cast at the 2017 Iowa State Fair. The new design is similar to the standard plates issued to Iowans since 1997 in that it showcases the Des Moines skyline on one side, but now also features a country scene – complete with a windmill, silo and barn – on the other.

Of the new design, the reactions are mixed.

“I’ve got to say it’s not my favorite, but, I feel like I had a different choice,” said Maddie Travis, who voted on Twitter.

Travis said, of the three designs featured at the Iowa State Fair, she leaned toward one depicting a more patriotic theme in its color scheme.

While somewhat indifferent, Mindy Stalker, Union County Development Association marketing coordinator, said she likes its inclusivity of all Iowans.

“I like that it represents the rural area of Iowa as well as the urban,” said Stalker.

However, in conversation, Travis, Stalker, and Becca Ross of Creston agreed on one element they wish was different.

“I think instead of grass, it should be corn and soybeans,” said Ross. “If you want to embody what Iowa is about, it’s about the agriculture we produce.”

The new plates will phase in to Department of Motor Vehicle offices across the state over the next 10 years after each office has depleted its current stock of existing plates, which were previously redesigned in 1997. For a fee of $5, motorists across the state can update their plates to the new design, however, the new plates are now the standard plate currently distributed in Union County.